That appears to have been the strategy used by a suspect in a series of West End bank robberies that began last December and ended when Winnipeg police collared him on Friday.

Glen Thomas Muskego, 40, is charged with five counts of robbery after allegedly wearing a disguise while holding up the same Royal Bank of Canada branch in the 500-block of Sargent Avenue four times during that eight-month period, in addition to a nearby financial institution in the 600-block of Notre Dame Avenue.

In each incident, cops said on Saturday, Muskego allegedly entered the bank with his face covered before demanding and receiving cash from a staff member and running away.

"I was pretty amazed at that, too," Patrol Sgt. Monica Stothers, police spokeswoman, said when the Winnipeg Sun asked about the brazen nature of the repeated heists at the same branch, where he would "keep getting away with it." The suspect is not believed to have been armed or to have claimed to have a weapon during the robberies, Stothers said.

Otherwise, "there would have been another charge," she pointed out. "He was just demanding cash."

Cops finally caught up to and arrested him on Friday about noon, immediately after he allegedly left the RBC on Sargent at Sherbrook Street with money handed over by a 21-year-old male employee.

The police street crime and major crime units had been on the case during the holdup spree, which is suspected to have begun at the same RBC branch on Dec. 5. Muskego is alleged to have followed that holdup with robberies at the same bank on July 24 and Aug. 10, and at the Notre Dame Avenue bank on Aug. 7.

In each incident, he is accused of simply demanding cash and fleeing the premises with an undisclosed sum - always while disguised.

Muskego was held in custody following his arrest. In addition to the robbery charges, he's charged with five counts of wearing a disguise with intent.