Three teens arrested in Hamilton after variety store armed robberies

Three teen males have beenarrested by Hamilton police after multiple robberies in downtown Hamilton, police said Friday.

According to a Hamilton Police Service release, all suspects are between the ages of 14 and 15 years old.

On Nov. 25, police saidtwo male suspects robbed a variety store on King Street Westand Caroline Street North,one of them armed with a large knife, the other with a gun.Then, on Nov. 30, police said two suspects with similar descriptions entered a variety store in the area of Main Street East and Victoria Avenue, one armed with a knife.

Two of the suspects are now facing charges of robbery with intent to steal and use of weapons. The third is facing five charges, including robbery with intent to steal, use of weapons and failing to comply with release orders.

No one was hurt during the robberies, police said.

Robberies among others, saysstore owner

Ali Hamade, owner of severalBig Bee convenience stores in Hamiltonsaid he believes there hasbeen an increase in robberies in the last two months in the city.

He hashad three robberies attwo of his locations in the last two weeks alone, he said. Those were not the incidents cited in the police release, he said.

"We got robbed two days in a row last week of November in the Hunter street location," said Hamade.

The first timewasforcash, he said, and the person who robbed the storedsaid he had a gun in his pocket.

The last incident happened a week ago, in the King and Gage location, according to Hamade. A man took a big display of watches and ran away, he added.

Hamade said he wondersif the increaseisrelated tothe end of the government'sCERB payments. He pointed to the fact people were gettingpayments from the government overthe last two years, because of the financial impact ofCOVID-19,and when those paymentsstopped, crime increased.

According to Statistics Canada, thepolice-reportednumberof robberies in Canada dipped in the middle of the pandemic but as of Junethis yearbegan to rise. As of August, 2021, the last month of data currently available,robbery report numbers had not surpassed pre-pandemic levels.