Lumby man pleads guilty in violent robbery case | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Vernon News

Lumby man pleads guilty in violent robbery case

Mac's Convenience Store in Lumby
Image Credit: Google Street View

VERNON - A Lumby man admitted guilt yesterday in connection to a violent corner store robbery.

Thomas Belanger, 34, was arrested and charged with robbing Mac’s Convenience Store in Lumby and holding the lone female employee at knifepoint around 1 a.m. on April 24, 2016.

Yesterday, Dec. 12, he pleaded guilty to robbery and unlawful confinement, according to court records. He returns to Vernon Provincial Court Feb. 7 for sentencing.

Keegan Riley Reed, of Lumby, is also facing charges including robbery and unlawful confinement and is due in court Jan. 24 for a preliminary inquiry.

According to WorkSafe B.C., a new teenaged employee was working the night of the robbery. It was her first time working alone on the night shift.

Police said she was threatened with a knife and forced to sit on the floor behind the till. She wasn't hurt physically, but was "significantly traumatized."

Belanger and Reed made off with cash, lottery tickets and tobacco.


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News from © iNFOnews, 2016
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