Police are looking for a short skinny man with dark hair suspected of robbing two local gas stations in the early morning hours of Nov. 15.
Squamish RCMP reports that the 7-11/Esso station on Hwy. 99 at Cleveland Avenue was robbed at 1:15 a.m. and then at 6:13 a.m. the Husky station at Garibaldi Way was robbed.
In each case, the male suspect produced a weapon and demanded money.
The robbery victims both described the suspect as a male between the ages of 20 and 30, with a skinnier build and short dark hair. According to a news release from the RCMP, the suspect is between five feet and five foot three inches (1.5 to 1.6 metres) tall.
Cpl. Dave Ritchie of the Squamish RCMP noted also that the suspect had a scar or a cut on his lip at the time of the robberies. The man was wearing a black cap, blue jeans and a brown leather jacket during the robberies.
"The suspect had a French accent," Ritchie said on Tuesday (Nov. 16).
Ritchie said that in the 7-11 robbery, the thief was alone and acting like a customer when he first came into the store.
After producing the weapon and demanding the cash, the suspect received an undisclosed amount of cash and cigarettes then fled on foot.
Later that same morning, a suspect fitting the same description took an undisclosed amount of cash from the Husky station at the corner of Hwy. 99 and Garibaldi Way.
A weapon was used in each robbery, but police won't reveal what type of weapon was used.
"We aren't releasing the weapon that was used but I can say that it wasn't anything unusual like a needle or anything like that," Ritchie said.
Ritchie confirmed that an arrest was made at about 8 a.m. the morning of the robberies. A man who was wanted on unrelated warrants was arrested in Valleycliffe. A witness to the arrest on Guilford Drive said the suspect was wearing little clothing at the time of the arrest.
Ritchie confirmed that the man was arrested after a short foot chase. The person arrested did not have a shirt and was wearing only jeans and shoes at the time of the arrest. There was some initial thought that the individual matched the description of the robbery suspect but said on Thursday (Nov. 18) that the man was not involved in anyway in the two gas station robberies.
Ritchie added that the RCMP in Squamish is now working with police in Kelowna on this file because later in the days after the Squamish incidents there were similar robberies in Kelowna.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call Crimestoppers at 604-892-TIPS(8477) or to call the RCMP in Squamish at 604-892-6100.
