 A Kelowna RCMP officer stands outside the Westbank Wine Store that was robbed Tuesday. |
The officer, believed to be a sergeant, was hurt as officers moved in to nab the suspect behind the Westbank Wine Store near Walmart about 4 p.m. Tuesday.
It wasn't clear whether the officer hurt himself or the suspect assaulted him. An ambulance was parked near the spot where the arrest took place. Police at the scene refused to answer questions. Another Mountie later confirmed the officer was injured.
The suspect entered the store and demanded money from a woman working there. An employee at another store said the woman was "shaken up" but otherwise OK.
RCMP believe the man could be the same crook who used a knife while holding up two stores on Monday.
A Caucasian man held up a sex-toy shop in West Kelowna with a large kitchen knife just before 5 p.m. Monday. Four hours later, a Caucasian man pulled out a knife at the Subway restaurant on Lawrence Avenue at Gordon but fled with no cash when the clerks refused to give him any.
Investigators hadn't concluded the same crook was responsible before the wine store heist.
"We're open to all possibilities but can't really say," RCMP spokesman Const. Kris Clark said Tuesday morning.
In the first heist, a slim man in his early 20s and about five foot eight entered the Wild Kingdom Erotic Luxury boutique on Carrington Road. He wore a mask over his lower face and took off with a small amount of cash in a dark pickup truck.
In the Subway incident, the culprit looked in his late 20s and had a pock-marked face. He wore a dark hoodie, khaki pants and sunglasses.
