Criminal Mastermind now before the courts in Halton

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His criminal record reads like a movie script about heists and intrigue but what landed Gerald Blanchard in trouble in Burlington in January was shoplifting at Costco and Best Buy.

In 1998 Gerald Blanchard parachuted from a plane onto the roof of an Austrian castle, got in through a window he had left open while casing the room a few days before, and bypassed security to steal a priceless crown jewel once worn by the empress. He left a gift-shop replica in its place and the theft wasn’t noticed for weeks.

The jewel wasn’t found until 2007, when Winnipeg police brought down Blanchard’s criminal enterprise. He had moved on to cleaning out banks, stealing identities and even international crimes. In a plea deal, he showed police where he had hidden the jewel in his grandmother’s Winnipeg basement.

He was released from prison in 2012 and was quiet, until Halton fraud detective Mark Urie figured out that the Ricky White who rented a van in a Best Buy electronics heist in January was actually Blanchard.

Police say Blanchard and a suspected accomplice, they are still looking for, followed a man as he shopped for electronics, then followed him to an underground garage where they smashed his car window and took the merchandise.

A few days later Blanchard was stopped for speeding in Hamilton and that officer connected him to Ricky White.

“By that time he was back in Vancouver. I gave him a phone call and he picked up. I said you’re under investigation, we want you to turn yourself in and he agreed to.”

Blanchard came to the Burlington detachment March 3rd, had a bail hearing and was released. Blanchard is expected in person at his next Milton court date, April 26th.