A rash of robberies downtown in the last week has Williams Lake RCMP searching for suspects.
Williams Lake Staff Sgt. Del Byron said on Monday night, Oct. 17, at about 11 p.m. a man was approached by three First Nations males and one female after coming out of the Chevron gas station.
Byron said the group was aggressive towards the victim, and grabbed his cell phone, asking him what else he had. The victim grabbed his phone back and ran away from the group, and later approached police who were responding to the incident.
The suspects reportedly fled into the Stampede Grounds. Police are continuing their investigation.
Police are also investigating a report of a robbery Sunday night, Oct. 16 at about 1:46 a.m.
Byron said in this case, a man was leaving the TD Bank after making a withdraw and noticed he was being followed.
The suspects, described as being two males and one female, became aggressive and took an undisclosed amount of money and a cell phone from the victim, who also reported one of the suspects had a knife.
One male was described as wearing a hat and a hoodie, and the other a red sweater, while the female was described as having long black hair.
In both cases the victims were from out-of-town.
The latest robbery matches a similar incident the evening of Oct. 12 when a 48-year-old man walking past the library was threatened by two males and one female with a 2x4 board before the female intervened and the group ran off.
“It appears that these three robberies may be related,” said Byron.
“The investigation is ongoing.”
Byron is asking anyone with information regarding these robberies to contact the Williams Lake RCMP or CrimeStoppers and reminds residents to use caution while walking alone downtown at night.