ABBOTSFORD Police arrested 29-year-old Russell Andrew Amos on July 16 in relation to a series of four robberies that occurred in a six-day period.
Amos surrendered after a two-hour standoff with the Emergency Response Team of the APD at an apartment complex in the 33900 block of Old Yale Road.
The Abbotsford Police Department’s Patrol Division, Crime Reduction Unit and Major Crime Unit began investigating the robbery series on July 10, when a robbery report was received from a pizza restaurant in the 33300-block of South Fraser Way.
A second robbery took place at a gas station in the 1900 block of Sumas Way on July 12 at 10:30 p.m. Based on quality security video and valuable information and descriptions by witnesses, the suspect in this robbery was quickly identified as the same individual involved in the incident two days prior.
A third robbery took place the following day, this time at a beer and wine store in the 45900-block of Hocking Avenue in Chilliwack. With the assistance of the Chilliwack RCMP and the ongoing investigation by APD Major Crime detectives, a possible suspect was identified in the robberies. Police began searching for him and checking possible locations where he might be hiding.
A fourth robbery took place at 7 a.m. on July 16 at a restaurant in the 2000-block of Sumas Way. In all of the robberies, the suspect either indicated he had a weapon or a weapon was displayed in order to scare the staff into submission. All of the robberies placed these employees in dangerous and stressful situations.
Fortunately, the suspect was ultimately located and arrested a few hours after the Sumas Way robbery.
Amos has now been charged with four counts of robbery.