Pepper spray wafted through a Vancouver jewelry store in a busy west side mall as the upscale shop was hit by thieves for at least the fifth time in the last 40 months.
Vancouver Police Const. Lindsey Houghton says the heist occurred at around 4:30 yesterday afternoon at Monte Cristo Jewellers in the Oakridge mall.
Houghten says a security guard was punched and pepper spray was released -- but although the team of two robbers carried weapons, no shots were fired and no one was hurt in the robbery.
Robert Steven Gallagher, a 23-year-old Aldergrove man known to police, was arrested at the scene and has been charged with one count each of assault, use of a firearm during a robbery and use of an imitation gun. Police seized a replica handgun during the arrest.
Another robbery suspect abandoned some of the stolen loot in the store and fled in a green Chevrolet Astro van driven by a third man. The second robbery suspect is described as a Middle Eastern man in his 20s.
