Vernon fast food restaurant held up by man with syringe

VERNON – RCMP are on the hunt for a suspect after a robbery at a Vernon restaurant earlier this week.

A man threatened staff with an allegedly contaminated needle on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Wrap Zone in the 3100 block of Highway 6, according to an RCMP media release.

The suspect entered the restaurant in the Fruit Union Plaza just before 7 p.m. and demanded money while threatening the two staff on shift, police say.

The employees complied with the suspect's demands and he fled on foot with some cash. The employees were not physically injured during the incident.

Extensive patrols were made for the suspect but he got away, police say.

The suspect was wearing a dark-coloured, waist-length jacket with dark coloured shoes with light coloured trim.

Anyone with any information in regards to this incident is asked to contact the Vernon RCMP at 250-545-7171 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. You may also leave a tip online at www.nokscrimestoppers.com.

— This story was updated at 7:24 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018 to clarify the location of the robbery. Thanks to reader Ginger Bowden Simons for pointing out the error.


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Shelby Thevenot

Shelby Thevenot

Shelby has lived across Canada. She grew up near Winnipeg, Manitoba then obtained her B.F.A in Multidisciplinary Fine Arts at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 2014 she moved to Montreal, Quebec to study French and thrived in the Visual Journalism Graduate Diploma program at Concordia University. Now she works at iNFO News where she strives to get the stories that matter to the Okanagan Valley community.

Member of:

The Professional Writers Association of Canada

Quebec Writers Federation

English Language Arts Network