A 30-year-old man and three teenage boys face numerous charges stemming from a recent retail robbery spree in the city.
Toronto Police say officers responded to three different robbery calls between March 1 and March 12 in the Yonge St. and Steeles Ave. E. area in North York, Kipling Ave. and The Queensway area in Etobicoke, and Sheppard Ave. E. and Kennedy Rd. area in Scarborough.
Police alleged in each incident that a group of bandits, travelling in a stolen vehicle, entered a store wearing masks to disguise their identities and produced a hammer or a large pipe wrench and made demands for electronics.
The robbers then took a quantity of electronics before fleeing the area in the stolen vehicle, cops said.
On Wednesday, police said members of the Hold Up Squad and 32 Division officers quickly responded and located the stolen vehicle in the area of Bathurst St. and Wilson Ave. Officers conducted a high-risk takedown and arrested the four occupants.
Cops also allege a hammer and a loaded Glock handgun with an extended magazine were recovered at the time of the arrests.
Investigators have released a video of the arrests.
The unidentified Toronto man is charged with three counts of robbery with offensive weapon, three counts of disguise with intent, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm knowing it’s possession is unauthorized, unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, possession of a firearm obtained by crime, unauthorized possession of a prohibited device or ammunition, two counts of careless storage of firearm, prohibited device or ammunition, flight while pursued by police, dangerous operation of conveyance, and two counts of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
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One 16-year-old boy and two 15-year-old boys, all from Brampton, face similar robbery, weapons and possession of property charges.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7350, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at 222tips.com.