BREAKING
Suspect in daylight Toronto fast food restaurant robbery arrested
Toronto police say the man who robbed an A&W restaurant last week in broad daylight has been arrested and charged in connection with a number of similar incidents across the city.
Police were called to the fast food location in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, near Queen Street West and Macdonell Avenue, after 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 for a report of a robbery.
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In surveillance video of the incident obtained by CTV News Toronto, the masked suspect is seen paying for his food before he removes what appears to be a firearm from his pocket.
While pointing the firearm at the cashier, the suspect hops the counter and empties the cash register.
No injuries were reported and the suspect was outstanding following the incident.
However, according to a news release issued by Toronto police on Monday, the robbery was just one of six incidents in which Prince Kofi Apawu, a 27-year-old of no fixed address, has been charged.
The other incidents involving Apawu occurred in different parts of the city’s west end, including retail robberies near Finch Avenue West and Weston Road, Dufferin and Gordon streets, as well as Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue West.
In each incident, police said Apawu entered a store wearing a mask to disguise his identity and approached the checkout posing as a customer. In five of those incidents, a handgun was used and Apawu allegedly made off with an undisclosed quantity of cash before fleeing in a stolen vehicle.
Following an investigation by the Toronto Police Service’s Hold Up Squad, Apawu was located following the sixth robbery and taken into custody.
A replica handgun and other items of “evidentiary value related to the investigation” were discovered upon his arrest, police said.
Apawu is charged with five counts of robbery with firearm, one count of robbery, six counts of disguise with intent and one count of possession property obtained by crime over $5,000.
He was scheduled to appear in a Toronto courtroom on Aug. 27 to answer for the charges.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about any of the six incidents to contact them at 416-808-7350 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or www.222tips.com.
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