Sudbury convenience store owner hit suspect with a bat during robbery
An 18-year-old suspect has been charged after a convenience store on Lorne Street was robbed Thursday morning in Greater Sudbury.
Rick Sallan, owner of Dino’s Milk Mart, told Amanda Hicks of CTV News the sequence of events that led to the robbery.
Sallan said the suspect has shopped at the store before and came in Thursday morning to buy rolling papers. While he was getting his change, the suspect went over by the entrance to the store and demanded his money back.
The till was still open at this point and the suspect ran to the counter and grabbed a handful of cash from the open drawer. At this point, Sallan grabbed a baseball bat he keeps behind the counter and struck the suspect in the back as he fled the store.
By 11 a.m., police had a suspect in custody following a canine track.
- Download our app to get alerts sent to your device
- Get the latest newsletter sent right to your inbox
Hicks reported from the scene that police were investigating at a fourplex at the corner of Tuddenham Avenue in the Gatchell area of the city.
A neighbour told Hicks he heard police banging on the door at the back apartment.
"I got a text from a friend saying 'there’s police outside your house.' I go outside and I see police, about four cruisers, and I heard banging at the apartment behind," neighbour Dwayne Lemieux told CTV News.
"The officer told me to get back into my apartment. I asked 'is my life in danger?' And I was told to get back inside."
In a news release, police said they were called around 9:45 a.m. and began the canine track just after they arrived at the scene.
"Officers began a K9 track that led them to a residential building on Lorne Street," police said.
"Due to the immediate concerns for public safety and based on exigent circumstances, members of our (emergency response unit) made entry into the unit and located the man inside. Upon searching the man after the arrest, officers located what is believed to be 10 grams of fentanyl."
He is now charged with trafficking, robbery, mischief and possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000.
“We would like to commend all personnel involved with this call as it required a coordinated response from units across the service and resulted in the timely arrest of the person believed to be responsible,” police said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 EXCLUSIVE | Interviewing a narco hitman: my journey into Mexico's cartel heartland
W5 goes deep into the narco heartland to interview a commander with one of Mexico's most brutal cartels. W5's documentary 'Narco Avocados' airs Saturday at 7 pm on CTV.

Tyre Nichols' brutal beating by police shown on video
Memphis authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother and pleaded, ''I'm just trying to go home.'
OPINION | Selling a home? How to know if you qualify for a capital gains exemption
When selling a home, Canadians may be exempted from paying capital gains tax on a residential property -- if it's their principal residence. On CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains what's determined as a principal residence, and what properties are eligible for the exemption.
CRA head says it 'wouldn't be worth the effort' to review all ineligible pandemic payments
The head of the Canada Revenue Agency says it 'wouldn't be worth the effort' to fully review $15.5 billion in potentially ineligible pandemic wage benefit payments flagged by Canada's Auditor General.
Lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan fulfils dream of seeing first game, passes away next day
Mike Davy always dreamed of going to a Toronto Maple Leafs game, and once it finally happened, he passed away the night after.
'This is too much': B.C. mom records police handcuffing 12-year-old in hospital
A review has been launched after police officers were recorded restraining a handcuffed Indigenous child on the floor of a Vancouver hospital – an incident the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has denounced as "horrendous."
WHO decision on COVID-19 emergency won't affect Canada's response: Tam
The World Health Organization will announce Monday whether it thinks COVID-19 still represents a global health emergency but Canada's top doctor says regardless of what the international body decides, Canada's response to the coronavirus will not change.
Canadian university faculty getting older, more female compared to 50 years ago: StatCan
Canadian university professors are mostly older and increasingly more female compared to 50 years ago, a new report from Statistics Canada has found.
Canadian Hyundai vehicles unaffected by theft issue in the U.S., company says
Hyundai cars in Canada don't have the same anti-theft issue compared to those in the United States, a company spokesperson says, following reports that two American auto insurers are refusing to write policies for older models.