His name is Jeffery Shuman, and he's a California native. But the 62-year-old is now in Canada—nearing the end of a prison term—and better known in that country as the "Vaulter Bandit." A story at Toronto Life explains that Shuman got the nickname for his early habit of vaulting over bank counters to rob tellers. His methods kept evolving, however, with great success: He robbed an estimated 20 banks over five years starting in 2010, and police made little progress. Their big break came only when Shuman, a meticulous planner, finally made a mistake. While impersonating a construction worker, he robbed a bank in Mississauga in 2015 before it opened for business. But after herding three employees into the vault and closing the door on them, Shuman realized he had left behind a clipboard and pen (part of his disguise) in the vault.
A DNA test on the chewed pen revealed nothing in Canada's criminal database—but a check in the US turned up Shuman's identity, writes Malcolm Johnston. That's because, in his home country, Shuman had been known as the "Reebok Bandit" for a series of bank robberies in the 1990s. Upon release after nine years in prison in the US, he decided to ply his trade in Canada. After the vault mistake, investigators eventually tracked Shuman down overseas, aided by his Facebook posts on travel. It turns out Shuman had French citizenship because his mother was from France, and he spent his time between robberies in Europe. The former bandit—he never physically harmed anyone, and his weapon was a pellet gun—is due for release in September but will be immediately deported to France. This time, he swears he's going straight. (Read the full, entertaining story.)