Peterborough police chief fires back at critics after store clerk charged with assaulting robber

Peterborough’s police chief is standing up for his officers in the face of social media backlash after a store clerk was charged with assaulting an alleged robber armed with a baseball bat last week.

In a lengthy statement posted to X, Chief Stu Betts said the “commentary” that followed a police news release detailing the early morning convenience store robbery last week is “unfair to the men and women” of the force.

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“Yes, this case is unusual, but in a world where security cameras are everywhere, do you really think we would not have seized & reviewed the footage as part of the investigation and prior to laying charges?” Betts wrote.

Police said officers were called to the store at King and Bethune streets at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 5.

When officers arrived on scene, police said, they learned a male clerk was helping a customer when a second man entered the store, demanded money, and brandished a baseball bat.

A struggle ensued and the clerk was struck by the bat before he grabbed it away from the suspect, police said.

According to police, when the suspect fled the store, the clerk allegedly followed him to the sidewalk and struck him “several times” with the bat.

The 37-year-old suspect suffered head injuries, the extent of which were not disclosed by police, and was transported to a Toronto hospital. The 22-year-old clerk was also treated on scene by paramedics, police said.

Police said an arrest warrant has been issued for the 37-year-old suspect on charges of robbery, assault with a weapon, and possession of a weapon.

But it’s the fact that the clerk was charged with aggravated assault that has triggered criticism of Peterborough police online.

“The clerk who was attacked got charged?” one user on X wrote in all caps in response to the news release’s publication. “You have got to be kidding me. Why charge someone defending himself?” wrote another.

Little is known about what led officers to lay the charge against the clerk, and at time of writing no surveillance footage of the incident has been released by police. However, Betts urged members of the public to follow court proceedings to get the full story.

“…if you have a desire to know what has led to the charges, follow the case in court. Allow the facts of the case to guide your commentary and opinion, not your reaction to a headline,” Betts said.

Police have not identified the clerk and the legal status of his case is unclear. A spokesperson for the Peterborough Police Service did tell CTV News Toronto that the accused was held in custody and appeared in court on Jan. 6, the details of which were not released. Police said they were “not aware” of his next court appearance.

While it’s unclear what comments Betts was referring to in his statement, he said the laying of charges against the clerk was based on “facts”

“This is not about politics – politics have nothing to do with the facts. This is not about race - as some have suggested. This is not about the perception that criminals go free while victims of crime are penalized - this is about the law,” he said.