Two youths arrested after armed robbery of Kingston convenience store

Some quick work on behalf of Kingston Police has resulted in the arrest of two young males from Quebec after the pair robbed a downtown convenience store armed with a machete and a firearm.

The robbery took place on Saturday, Jun. 19, 2021 when, at approximately 10:10 p.m., two male youths entered the Division Street Market on Division Street in downtown Kingston. According to police, one of the males was armed with a long, machete-style knife, and the other was armed with a gun. The male with the knife then wielded said knife at the store employee behind the cash, while the other male ran around behind the counter, pointed the firearm at the employees head, and demanded money from the cash register.

Both males then exited the store with the cash register, which contained an undisclosed amount of money, and fled in a vehicle.

Kingston Police were contacted and responding officers found footage of the two accused parties who had just robbed the store, as well as the vehicle they fled in. Police immediately sent out a description of the vehicle and both males to officers on general patrol.

Just 10 minutes after the males had entered the store, police received information regarding a suspicious vehicle in the area of Montreal Street and Hickson Avenue.

“Due to the expedited response of general patrol officers, police located the suspect vehicle and were able to match it and the accused males, who were still inside the vehicle, to the robbery which had just occurred,” Kingston Police said in a press release on Monday, Jun. 21, 2021. “Both of the accused males were arrested and searched incident to arrest. The firearm which had been observed in the video and the store’s cash register were both recovered.”

Unfortunately for police, their negative interactions with the pair were just getting started. After their arrest, both male parties were transported to Kingston Police Headquarters, however, the male who had earlier been armed with the gun proceeded to kick the plexiglass barrier in the police cruiser several times, causing significant damages and forcing police to take the vehicle out of service. Once placed in the cells at Kingston Police Headquarters, that same male proceeded to purposefully defecate multiple times on the floor, and then smeared the feces on the walls of the cell. Police officers moved the male to a new holding area, however, the behavior persisted, according to Kingston Police.

The male party who was earlier armed with the machete provided false identification and date of birth to police. Upon further investigation, officers were able to determine his actual identity.

As a result, the pair were charged as follows.

A 17-year-old male youth from Quebec was charged with:

• Robbery with an offensive weapon
• Pointing a firearm
• Using a firearm to commit an indictable offence
• Two counts of mischief under $5,000
• Failure to comply with a release order
• Four counts of breach of probation

A 16-year-old male youth from Quebec was charged with:

• Robbery with an offensive weapon
• Possession of a weapon dangerous to public peace
• Obstructing a peace officer
• Breach of probation