This huge heist was conceived because of a blabbermouth and
it fell apart because of a blapper mouth too
And in between, well, in between was another colossal mistake
It's the stuff of movies. The Mob Reporter here with details of an armed robbery that
could have been a legendary score — more than a million bucks in cash right there for the taking
If only they didn't make two simple mistakes
Let me tell you about it
It may well have been the perfect target — a company that stocks automated bank machines
with money, which means it has a ton of cash on hand. It sat anonymous and low-key, a soft target
just outside Toronto's international airport in Canada's largest city
Now someone must have blabbed about the business and the place, because the heist starts off pretty solid
Let's break it down
Shortly after 9 a.m. two masked men jumped a female employee on her way into work and pushed her at gunpoint to the front door
Now, buddy with the gun is followed by buddy with a large bag. It seems they came prepared. They look like pros, but let's see how it goes
Once inside, the two men grab the manager. During this, though, the woman is left unattended for a
moment and buddy with the bag suddenly realizes this. He drops his bag and runs after her. In the
confusion, and probably soaked in adrenaline, he doesn't seem to realize where he left it
So now buddy with the gun hustles the manager into the cash room
Look at this place! It's lined on three sides with large, heavy-duty vaults
but frankly what's the point of having a safe if you don't keep it locked
We can see that buddy with the gun has an extended mag in his pistol, which is prohibited in Canada
and buddy who brought the bag seems to realize at this point that he no longer has the bag and looks
for an alternative. He grabs the bag off the shelf and starts stuffing cash into it but it is small
so, so small. They aren't getting rich off of that bag and he knows it. He leaves for a moment we
don't see what he does but he's probably looking for his bag but returns empty-handed. Buddy with
the gun must be thinking 'Dude you had one job.' Then bagman sees the lined garbage can
The garbage can bag is big. I can almost feel his relief through the lens
He empties it of garbage and starts filling it with wads and wads of cash
Buddy with the gun helps — he's noticed more cash in an open safe
There's so much cash, even sealed bags of cash. They're moving fast now — within five
minutes they're out. But do they still look like pros, like they did going in?
He's dragging his makeshift loot bag here. It's heavy and just thin plastic — oh no, oh dear
This scene gave the Toronto police Hold Up Squad the code name for their investigation
"Project Heavy Bag," they called it. But the hijinks aren't yet over for our robbers. Now this cash
heist was on April 1, 2021 — April Fool's Day, by the way. Police say they stole more than one
million dollars but it isn't clear whether that's what they got out the front door of the place
or what they actually made off with. They fled in a getaway car with a second car as a spotter
In any event, it seemed someone wasn't discreet about the score and other crooks heard of their
sudden wealth. The tables turned. On May 17 there was an attempted home invasion seven
miles north of the cash business. The target of the home invasion, police allege, was this man
Emmanuel Rawson, 22, of Toronto. Police allege he was one of the men who pulled the cash house heist
although cops didn't know it when they were called to the home invasion. Armed suspects trying to get
into Rawson's place fled before police arrived, but when officers checked on the well-being of
anyone inside they found wads of cash — about a $160,000 of it
Investigators traced it to the money stolen six weeks before in the cash heist
The Hold Up Squad's probe then linked four suspects to the robbery. In September, a man and a woman
were arrested; a loaded Glock handgun was seized from their car and a 23 year old man is accused
of being one of the men in on the heist. That same day, and the next, a SWAT team executed four search
warrants at homes and cars. They found seven more handguns: six Glocks and a Luger, along with high-
capacity drum-style magazines, a bunch of ammo, body armor, and 330 grams of cocaine. Three women
and two men were arrested. Among those arrested was a former all-star college basketball player
A decade ago, Phillip Nkrumah was the reigning Canadian university defensive player of the year
while he was playing with the Cape Breton University Capers
He was a powerful, dynamic forward. His all-time rebound record at Cape Breton still stands
unbroken today. He also played internationally on Canada's national basketball development team
Here he is featured in the advertising hype for a college basketball championship: "But
just when you thought you were defeated you discovered sometimes the journey ends
right where it started" ... "The journey ends here." Although he played for five seasons at
a college on Canada's east coast, the six-foot- four forward is a native of Brampton, Ontario
west of Toronto. He said he planned for a pro ball career, but it didn't work out that way. He's now 36
years old, apparently goes by the nickname "Bonus" and has had repeated trouble with police
In 2016, he was caught selling a .357 magnum to an undercover cop. He was then arrested with 10
others in a large cross-border gun running probe investigated by American and Canadian authorities
The guns were being smuggled from Michigan across the border into Ontario
At his sentencing in Windsor, Ontario, just across the border from Detroit, he told the judge this
was his first and last time he'd have to face sentencing. He was sentenced to 39 months in prison
This spring, he was one of 10 people arrested north of Toronto in a large break and enter
investigation. During "Project Rise" police recovered a huge stash of stolen goods as well as cash in
three different national currencies. He is also facing drug charges from last year in Thunder Bay
900 miles northwest of Toronto. He was charged with an array of gun charges a trafficking cocaine
charge and possession of proceeds of crime. He was released on bail to live with his family back in
Brampton. Nkrumah isn't accused of being one of the guys inside the cash house during the heist
Emmanuel Rawson is, though, but he wasn't found when police came knocking. He is considered a fugitive
at the time I'm making this, wanted for charges of robbery with a firearm, disguised with intent ,
possession of property obtained by crime. Police said he is considered
armed and dangerous and encouraged him to get a lawyer and turn himself in
They didn't say whether he is suspected of being buddy with the gun or bunny without the bag
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