Robber tries pulling bank heist during Schwarzenegger movie shoot

CTV Vancouver: Robbery attempt on movie set While the latest 'Terminator' movie was being shot at a mall in Surrey, B.C., a man was attempting to rob a nearby savings company.

There was real-life drama on the set of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new movie Thursday when a robber tried pulling a bank heist mid-shoot.

Crews were filming an explosion-filled sequence for the new action-comedy “Why We’re Killing Gunther” in Cloverdale Thursday afternoon when Mounties alerted them there was a robbery in progress at a Coast Capital Savings branch just steps away, in the 17700-block of 56th Avenue.

“It just happened like that and suddenly you have nine to 12 officers in five or six different vehicles all just swarm,” said Paul Orazietti of the Cloverdale Business Improvement Association.

“They stopped the filming [for safety concerns], because of the explosions.”

Apparently, the bank robber wasn’t aware a major blockbuster was being filmed just down the block, complete with RCMP officers providing on-set security.

Mounties quickly arrested a suspect and thwarted the robbery.

“Everybody was watching,” Orazietti said. “It was pretty exciting to see something real happen.”

Jeffrey Ozolins, 32, of no fixed address has been charged with robbery, and remains in custody.

“Thankfully no persons were injured during this incident,” said Cpl. Scotty Schumann. “But thanks to the film crew with a sharp eye, and the fast acting officer, this arrest was made in short order.”

Sources said The Terminator has already left B.C., but filming is expected to continue on location in Cloverdale until Saturday.

The movie is about a group of “eccentric assassins” who decide to kill Schwarzenegger’s character, Gunther, who’s described as the world’s greatest hit-man.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Sarah MacDonald