US officials say Baumgartner arrest went “very well”
Posted June 17, 2012 4:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LANGLEY (NEWS1130) – Police in Alberta are giving credit to border guards at the Aldergrove crossing for the smooth take down of a murder suspect.
Travis Baumgartner was arrested trying to cross into Washington State yesterday after a deadly armoured car heist in Edmonton Friday.
Officials say it was the best outcome police could have asked for.
US Customs and Border Protection Chief Tom Schreiber says the arrest went smoothly after border guards were alerted by license plate scanners that Baumgartner could be armed and dangerous.
They drew their guns and took him down.
“He complied with our orders, we marched him away from the vehicle, laid him down on the wet pavement, I’m sorry about that, and put handcuffs on him,” he recounts. “We then took him in to the port of entry, where he was searched for any weapons, evidence or contraband.”
Border guards did eventually find $300,000 cash in a backpack in Baumgartner’s truck.
No gun or body armour were discovered. Baumgartner was also carrying his Alberta driver’s licence, which made him easy to identify.
US Customs and Border Protection Port Director Rene Ortega says officers did a phenomenal job.
“They reacted and with their training, they applied their training to the scenario which was the real thing, we are very fortunate that there was no loss of life,” he explains. “No one got hurt, the suspect was apprehended safely, placed in the cell, everything went very very well for us.”
