Police canine units swarmed the Bellwood community after two men robbed a clerk at gunpoint at the Salvation Army thrift store Saturday morning.
No one was injured, but the robbers netted an undisclosed amount of cash from the store at 310 Moodie Dr. in Bells Corners.
Police said the men forced their way into the store at about 8:20 a.m. after a clerk went to the door to inform them that the outlet was not yet open.
Staff at the store refused to comment, deferring to the Salvation Army’s central office.
Police have yet to identify the suspects.
Anyone with information is asked to call 613-236-1222 ext. 5116 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477. Thanks, Tony!
bellscorners 
How low can you get! If only when they’re caught, they would get an appropriate sentence, instead of a slap on the wrist.
Why would anyone rob a Salvation Army outlet at 8:20 a.m. when all there’d be is the float in the till?
They were not after the cash from the till. The burglars obviously knew that the money from the sale had not been deposited yet. If there is a resolution to this I would not be surprised to find out one of the employees was involved (either directly or accidentally by mentioning the money to a unsavory friend in passing).
– I was in there yesterday browsing for bargains and I asked a clerk if there was any news on the robbery – had the thieves been caught? Has the police issued a description?
She referred me to her supervisor, who emphatically said: “None of us are allowed to say anything.”
After reading the article in the Citizen you can understand the reasoning for the gag order.
Dave,
Most businesses have their cash set up well before the store opens.
– Yes, but they probably only have a small amount of cash on hand as a float. The rest would be in a safe (the employees wouldn’t know the combination) or already deposited in the bank.
To rob a place like this you have to be really desperate.
Salvation Army robbery suspects pressed gun into clerk’s back
Karen Chen, Citizen
It was a robbery straight from Carmen Bejancu’s nightmares. The executive director for Salvation Army Ottawa arrived at the 310 Moodie Dr. location shortly after two suspects stole approximately $4,000 from the Bells Corners Salvation Army on Saturday morning, threatening the clerk on duty at gunpoint.
“It was so scary, it seems to be a horror story,” said Bejancu, who arrived at the store shortly after the clerk called the police. The young female clerk was not injured, but Bejancu said she was clearly shaken by the event.
According to Bejancu, a man knocked at the door early Saturday and the clerk answered, thinking he might be a volunteer. He proceeded to ask her for directions, which she provided at the door. When he asked to use the store phone, the clerk allegedly refused, stating the store was not yet open. At this point, the man pushed her into the store, knocking her to the floor when his partner appeared. His accomplice had been hiding near the door and appeared with a gun, ordering the clerk to open the safe and deposit its contents into a bag he provided. The clerk obliged and shortly after the pair left, she phoned the police.
“I don’t understand what kind of animals could do that to, first of all, the Salvation Army, and second, such a young girl,” Bejancu said. Bejancu said the clerk’s described the man pressing the gun into her back and forcing her to the safe.
Bejancu stayed at the store with police as they investigated, stating the entire profit from the store’s recent discount sale was stolen and all the telephone and Internet wires had been cut. She said she has since received many concerned calls from the community and opened the store to the public the same day around noon, when police had left. The clerk has not worked since the incident and could not be reached for comment. Bejancu said the clerk has worked for the Salvation Army for several years.
Police have yet to identify the suspects and continue to investigate.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Ottawa Police robbery unit 613-236-1222 ext. 5116.
Man charged after knifepoint retail robbery
MICHELLE ZILIO, Citizen
Ottawa Police have charged a 46-year-old man in relation to a robbery that occurred Saturday in Bells Corners.
Around 7:30 p.m., a man entered a retail store in the 100 block of Stafford Road and waited in line with customers. He then produced a knife and demanded money, before fleeing in a vehicle with an undisclosed amount of cash.
There were no injuries.
The suspected was located and arrested by police a short time after the robbery.
Police charged Scott Richards of Ottawa with robbery and possession of a weapon. He will appear in court Monday.
Glad to hear they caught the thief relatively quickly. I wish they took information from ordinary citizens more seriously. To be ignored when one passes on information about a crime in progress or about suspicious activities certainly doesn’t make one feel confidence in our police officers. I hope this is not a common occurence.
It was the Giant Tiger. The granddaughter of my neighbour across the street was the girl working the cash register.
– That means that either the Citizen story or the police report contains incorrect information – the robbery didn’t take place on Stafford Rd. since the businesses in the Giant Tiger plaza got new Robertson Rd. addresses thanks to Rick.
I was wondering what had happened. I was on my way home Saturday when the cop cars zoomed past. When I stopped for gas at the Esso I saw them in the mall across the street. It was a toss up between if it was the Giant Tiger or UPS store but given there were four cars in the parking lot and a few others with their lights out just going slowly around the neighborhood it was pretty clear that it was some kind of robbery/assault.
Just plain scummy low-lifes!
Throw them in jail for 10 years and throw away the key.
But they will probably just cop a plea bargain and get out in a few days!
Cops want help identifying Bells Corners robber
Doug Hempstead, Sun
Ottawa police robbery investigators are trying to identify a man wanted in connection with a summertime robbery in Bells Corners.
It happened on a Saturday morning — Aug. 11, around 8:20 a.m. That’s when two men — one armed with a handgun — walked through the door of the Salvation Army Thrift Store on Moodie Dr. and demanded cash. They fled with an undisclosed amount of money and eventually got into a taxi.
Jessie Laundrie, 31, of Arnprior has already been charged with armed robbery. Currently sitting in jail, he also faces charges of possession of a dangerous weapon and breach of probation.
His at-large accomplice is described as white, 20-25-years-old, about 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7 and 140 lbs. He had short, light brown hair and was wearing a dirty, white sleeveless t-shirt and blue jeans. He spoke English without an accent and has a tattoo on the inside of the left forearm.
The weapon used in the robbery has not been recovered.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ottawa Police Service Robbery Unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5116 or Crimestoppers at 613-233-8477 (TIPS
Police release photo of second suspect in Sally Ann Thrift Store armed robbery
Ottawa Citizen
Police hope a security camera photo can help them find the second suspect wanted in the armed robbery of the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Bells Corners in August.
The robbery occurred early Saturday morning on Aug. 11 at the store at 310 Moodie Dr. The lone female clerk was getting ready to open the store when a man knocked on the door. Thinking it was a volunteer, the clerk answered the door. The man forced his way inside, then the second man, who had been hiding, burst in with the gun.
The pair forced the clerk to open the safe and made off with all the proceeds from a recent sale.
They ran from the store and eventually left the area in a cab.
One man, 31-year-old Jessie Laundrie of Arnprior, was arrested and charged with robbery and weapons offences, as well as breaching his probation.
The second man is still at large. He is white, 20 to 25 years old, about five-foot-six or five-foot-seven and had short, light-brown hair. He spoke English without an accent and had a tattoo on the inside of his left forearm.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ottawa police Robbery Unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5116 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477 (TIPS) or toll free at 1-800-222-8477.
It’s Jeff Hickey, not Jim.
http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/08/13/ottawa-cops-think-elusive-most-wanted-robber-still-in-the-city
An Ottawa police tactic to nab the city’s most wanted robbers has been paying off but one suspect continues to slip through their fingers.
And cops think the culprit may be close to home.
“He knows he’s wanted,” said Ottawa police Staff Sgt. Michael Haarbosch, head of the robbery unit.
“He’s well-known to us.”
Jeff Hickey, 39, has been charged with robbery and possession of weapons dangerous to the public in connection with an armed robbery last summer but cops are still trying to find him.
It has been a year this week since two suspects, one armed with a handgun, entered a Bells Corners business.
Money was demanded, and the suspects took off with cash, eventually using a taxi to aid their escape from the Moodie Dr. business on Aug. 11, 2012.
A 31-year-old Arnprior man, Jessie Laundrie, was charged in connection with the case.
But police are still looking for Hickey, who first made the most wanted list as an unidentified suspect.
A warrant for his arrest was issued seven months after the robbery but investigators are still working to track him down.
Despite his wanted status, investigators think Hickey may not have gone far. He is believed to be in the Ottawa/Gatineau area.
He may also be working, say police.
Hickey joins several other suspects on the robbery unit’s most wanted list, which first surfaced in the fall of 2011.
Police hoped uploading suspect photos online could cast a wider net to help track down some of their more elusive robbers.
Suspects who are particularly violent, armed or suspected in multiple robberies usually make up the list, which rotates.
It profiles surveillance shots and details of crimes that the public can browse online in a bid to generate fresh tips.
And the list seems to be paying off as even people who have been charged have commented on the tactic to officers in follow-up interviews.
Earlier this year, one of Ottawa’s most wanted robbery suspects landed behind bars.
The 35-year-old man was charged in connection to a January 2012 bank robbery.
Police again plan to update the robbery unit’s most wanted list this fall.
To view it, visit ottawapolice.ca.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Hickey, or any other robbery, is asked to contact the Ottawa Police Service Robbery Unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5116 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477 ,or toll free at 1-800-222-8477.
Jeff Hickey has been arrested, he was caught in Orleans today….