Dozens bear sprayed in Calgary mall robbery
CALGARY Canada Nov 6 2017 – Nearly 30 people were exposed to bear spray in a Thursday-evening robbery at a mall north of Calgary.
Just after 7:15 p.m., two young males were spotted stealing the tip jar from a vendor in the food court of Cross Iron Mills, prompting both an employee of a neighboring retailer and a bystander to intervene.
At that point, a third male assaulted the worker, knocking him to the ground while a fourth sprayed the two Good Samaritans with bear spray.
All four suspects then ran from mall and into the parking lot, fleeing in a car previously reported to police as stolen.
Twenty people — including several children — were affected by the spray, while an additional six were treated at the scene by paramedics.
Mounties say the same suspects were involved in a theft the same evening from the mall’s Tommy Hilfiger outlet.
The first suspect is described as a black male, 18 to 25 years old with short black hair, wearing a blue, hooded puffy jacket and ripped, light-coloured jeans.
Suspect no. 2 is also a black male with short black hair, 15 to 18 years old, wearing a grey zip-up hoodie and dark, ripped jeans.
The third suspect is a 13 to 16 years old black male with a dark hoodie with light coloured pants; while the fourth suspect is an 11 to 14 year old black male sporting a black long sleeved jacket, black pants and black shoes.
Their getaway car was a stolen silver Hyundai Elantra with Alberta plate BVV0131.
Anybody with information is asked to call Airdrie RCMP at 403-975-7267, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
