BY CRAIG GILBERT
Greater Sudbury Police have made arrests in connection with several robberies that have taken place in the city since September, but are looking to the public for help with others.
Since early September, 13 robberies have taken place in Greater Sudbury.
According to police, William Kenneth Laing, 19, recently moved to Levack from southern Ontario and didn?t waste any time getting to work terrorizing local cashiers.
Police have charged him and Johnathan James Cushing, 21, of no fixed address, with robbery and other charges related to the robberies of Cara?s Convenience, Northern Breweries and M&M?s Variety.
Laing is charged with three counts of Robbery and one count of Disguise with Intent.
Cushing also faces charges of Robbery for the same incidents as well as three counts of Conspiracy to commit Robbery.
Police had originally charged another man in relation to the Cara?s Convenience robbery, but subsequently withdrew the charges.
Four men have been arrested and one warrant has been issued in connection with the robbery of S&A Confectionary on Howey Drive. Azilda man Derick Van Embden, 20, is wanted by police.
Police have issued arrest warrants for Johnathan Terrence MacDonald, formerly of Oshawa, in connection with two robberies of the Lively IDA pharmacy.
Police have also arrested Donald Roy in connection with an after-hours break-in at the Jem Mart on Kathleen St.
Police are still hoping for some help from the public in moving forward investigations into the other robberies.
Those include the Nov. 13 hold-up of Richer?s Confectionary in Val Therese. Two men entered the store wearing disguises around 9:45 pm and got an undisclosed amount of cash by holding the lone female attendant at knifepoint.
One suspect is described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, white, wearing an off-white ski jacket with a stripe down the arms.
The other suspect is also white, slightly taller than the first. He was wearing a dark-coloured jacket.
Police are still looking for a suspect who tried to hold up the Regent St. Petro Canada gas bar with a ?wooden club? at 11:55 pm Nov. 15.
Wearing a plastic bag over his head, he was white, 6 feet tall and about 160 pounds. He wore a dark t-shirt over a white long sleeve shirt.
Police have not announced any arrests in two other robberies they consider related.
They say two men tried to rob the Kwik Way at Elm St. and Beatty St. Nov. 14.
Local man John Moore, who served 10 years in prison for a murder he maintains he didn?t commit, threw his body in the way of the men when they tried to flee the store with a box full of cigarettes.
Moore and one of the clerks followed the men as they climbed into an idling vehicle in the parking lot and got the license plate number.
Two men robbed the Mac?s Convenience on Notre Dame a short time later. Police believe it was the same two men in the same red car, which was found abandoned in the Donovan area and had been reported stolen earlier.
Anyone with any information about these or any other crimes are urged to phone police at 675-9171 or Crimestoppers.
