Police search for suspect after Richmond Hill cellphone store allegedly robbed at knifepoint
York police say 2 suspects arrested in Toronto, 1 outstanding
Police in York Region are searching for a suspect after three people allegedly robbed a cellphone store in Richmond Hill on Tuesday.
York Regional Police were called to Hillcrest Mall just before 6 p.m., Const. Kevin Nebrija told CBC News.
He said the suspects were armed with at least one knife and forced an employee at the Freedom Mobile store to open a safe. Several cellphones were stolen before the suspects fled the scene in a grey sedan, Nebrija added.
Police say they tracked the suspects to Toronto, where two were arrested. Nebrija said one of the males arrested is from Toronto, while the other is from Brampton.
Police say no injuries were reported.
"In these cases, they're using weapons to force the employees to hand over the merchandise. And so, as with any robbery, we tell our victims the best thing to do is to comply. You never know what sort of mentality these suspects have," Nebrija said.
Freedom Mobile's public affairs team confirmed to CBC News in an email that one of their Greater Toronto Area stores was targeted.
"Right now, our priority is to provide support to our employees," the email read.
The company added additional safety measures have been implemented in stores and that it is working with police to monitor the situation.
Nebrija said after the suspects fled, York police contacted Toronto police, who assisted with the arrest.
According to Toronto police statistics, there were two smash and grab robberies in the city by this time last year. This year, the number is already sitting at 34, 14 of which were at cellphone stores.
York police were unable to say if there has been a rise in cellphone store robberies this year.
"There have been a few over the past few months and again, a lot of them do share similar traits in terms of the suspects entering either brandishing a weapon or alleging they have a weapon and enforcing the employees to hand over merchandise," Nebrija said.
Police are looking for any information regarding the third suspect. Anyone with details is asked to contact 1-888-876-5423, ext. 7200.
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With files from Dale Manucdoc