On the night of March 13, Fireweini Haile’s phone rang. When she picked up the phone, the last thing she expected to hear was that her store in St. Albert had been robbed.
“I was shocked,” said Haile, general manager of Circle K. “I didn't know how it happened. St. Albert is very safe to me.”
At around 9:50 p.m., a man ran into the store on Boudreau Road, pointed a handgun at the cashier and demanded cash and a pack of cigarettes. Hastily the employee complied.
Fleeing on foot, the man ran eastwards down the road.
The is the first time Haile has been robbed in the seven years she’s worked at the store. She said the ordeal has shaken her, since she’s always considered St. Albert a safe community.
As soon as the man left the store, Haile said the employee called her. She jumped in her car and immediately drove to the scene. While she was on her way, the employee called the police.
The employee, who declined to speak with the Gazette, wasn’t harmed in the robbery.
The Gazette also spoke with the owners and managers of a couple of businesses in the same strip as Circle K, who were surprised about the news.
“We have ... workers here. They park their car out there, and they walk out there to go home,” said Joe Pham, manager of Second Bowl Oriental Noodle House.
This is the first time Pham has heard of a robbery in the area. He said the business would have been closed when the robbery took place.
He said he wasn’t aware of the robbery previous to the interview.
“We just have to be more careful,” Pham expressed.
Just three doors down at Sargent Liquor Store, owner Sutpaul Minhes said he was shocked to learn of the robbery.
Minhes said he believes St. Albert is a safe community, and never expected to hear of a robbery so close to his business.
“It's not good, but I hear (this is a) good neighborhood,” he said “It never happened like this before.”
In the event of a robbery, he said employees are instructed to give any money or merchandise that’s demanded of them.
Workers at Circle K are told the same. Since little cash is stored in the registers at night, the robber got less than $50, Haile said.
“You don't have to fight back or anything. Because what for? You know, even if (he takes) the whole store, life is too important,” she said.
The RCMP were not immediately available for an interview. They described the male in a news release as a darker-skinned man, standing between five-feet, six-inches and five-feet, eight-inches, and wearing a black hoodie with a bandana covering his face. He was also wearing black gloves and black pants.
If anyone has any information, they can call the St. Albert RCMP Detachment at 780-458-7700 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
