Durham Regional Police have charged five teenagers in connection with a string of armed cellphone store robberies across the Greater Toronto Area.
The arrests were made after an investigation into what police called “an organized group of suspects” they believed were responsible for the robberies.
In October, investigators said they were searching for several suspects following two armed robberies in Ajax.
At the time, police said two armed suspects entered both a Rogers and Fido store at a plaza on Westney Road North on Oct. 19, and tied up the employees and customers. The suspects then took cash and fled on foot.
The victims were not injured, police said.
On Nov. 22, police observed a Volkswagen Passat pulling into the parking lot of a Rogers Store on Ellesmere Road in Toronto. A second vehicle was seen parking in an adjacent lot to the West.
Police allege the second vehicle was acting as a lookout.
Officers took three occupants of the Passat into custody. Police said that the suspects were wearing gloves, masks and hooded sweaters pulled tightly around their faces.
Two more suspects were found in the second vehicle. One of them was in possession of a handgun
Durham Regional Police said that additional weapons were seized, including an expandable baton, knives, brass knuckles and zip ties.
Four 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy from Toronto face a total of 37 robbery and weapons-related charges.
They have been held for a bail hearing.
Police say the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is being asked to call the Major Crime Robbery Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5355.
