Retired OPP senior constable Neil Hurtubise was robbed in downtown Orillia late Tuesday afternoon.
The 87-year-old Orillia resident went to the TD Canada Trust on Peter Street around 3 p.m. to take out $700 that he was going to distribute to his children and grandchildren over the holidays.
When Hurtubise walked inside the bank, he noticed only two other customers — a woman, and a man in a hooded sweater.
“He was talking away to the clerks,” Hurtubise recalls of the man in the hoodie. “I didn’t think anything of him. I just got my money and walked out.”
On his way out of the bank, Hurtubise held the door for the man in the hooded sweater. While walking to the parking lot behind the bank, the man snatched the envelope of money from his hands.
“He ran through the parking lot and down Peter Street,” Hurtubise remembers. “I thought, ‘Oh, what the heck. I’ll just let it go.’”
Hurtubise was prepared to just get in his car and drive home, but he didn’t want to let his family down on Christmas, so he headed back inside the bank to pull out some more money.
“I told the girls working in there what happened,” said Hurtubise. “They said they knew this guy.”
The 30-year police veteran, who many will remember as the officer who was shot in the line of duty in January 1981 and left on the side of the road to die, was upset by the lost money, but more upset he was caught off guard.
“There was no rough stuff or nothing; he just grabbed it out of my hand,” Hurtubise said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
He says he’s not too worried about what happens to the brazen robber, but he hopes he is stopped from doing it to someone else.
“He knew what he was doing,” he said. “He was just waiting for someone to come in to take money out.”
Before Hurtubise could leave the bank, some of his grandchildren had shown up to lend a hand. Family and friends quickly spread the word about the incident on social media.
“People were donating money towards my loss,” Hurtubise said. “I got my 700 bucks back. It’s unbelievable.”
Today, Hurtubise has been visited at his home by old friends and fellow retired police officers who wanted to check up on him to make sure he’s OK.
“This has shown me that there are still good people around,” he said.
The next time Hurtubise goes to the bank, he says he will be looking over his shoulder.
“I’ll put my money in my pocket next time,” he said. “I normally don’t carry money by hand, but I just came out of the bank and was going straight to the car.”
Orillia OPP acting Sgt. Brett Boniface says an investigation is ongoing.
“We have a person of interest who we are actively seeking,” he told OrilliaMatters. “We request that the individual speak to a lawyer and turn themselves into police.”
