Canada's "Phantom Bandit" Caught Stealing Liquor From Jewel

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man dubbed the "Phantom Bandit" for his ability to rob banks and then disappear was very much there when police arrested him for the alleged theft of nearly $1,000 in liquor from a Barrington grocery store.

Gilbert Galvan, 58, was one of Canada's most notorious bank robbers. In 1984, he escaped from a prison in Michigan, where he was serving time for embezzlement, and fled to Canada, where he robbed more than 50 banks in 14 cities over a three-year period, making off with about $2 million before he was captured.

Galvan was featured on the TV show "Masterminds," a series of true crime documentaries highlighting unique or elaborate crimes.

Now living in Lake Zurich, he was paroled last December, after serving a stint in federal prison for a bank robbery in McHenry County.

Barrington Police said, on Monday, he walked out of a Jewel-Osco store with a grocery cart full of liquor, without paying for the merchandise. He was arrested and charged with four counts of felony retail theft.

He was being held on $50,000 bail at the Lake County Jail.

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