Shawn Bouchard, a man dubbed the “50 Dollar Bandit” by those whom he has robbed, is wanted in Steinbach for two instances of theft from small restaurants.

The Steinbach Booster Juice is one affected store. Owner Patti Lytwyn indicates she was robbed sometime in May when Bouchard came in, distracted the staff, and stole $90 from the till without anybody realizing until the next morning.

Taking a look back at her security footage, Lytwyn says she can recognize Bouchard’s tactics. She explains he paid for a small item with a $50 bill and then proceeded to pull other bills out of his pocket, asking for additional change four or five separate times until the cashier was so confused with all of the money that had changed hands that Bouchard ended up with a considerable amount. “Apparently, he’s super polite guy comments Lytwyn, “and in our instance, he had a female with him who was distracting the other employee.”

Lytwyn stresses her staff were not at fault, adding a few other Steinbach restaurants, including Little Caesars and Freshii, have also been swindled by Bouchard. “This guy is notorious for doing this,” states Lytwyn, “he’s done it to several businesses in Winnipeg too, including other Booster Juices.”

Steinbach RCMP Staff Sergeant Harold Laninga says there is an outstanding warrant for Bouchard’s arrest due to two officially reported local incidents. He notes that Bouchard is wanted in many other jurisdictions within and outside Manitoba for similar crimes.