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 Investigates | Daniel Jolivet insists he's not a murderer and says he has proof
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.

China balloon: Many questions about suspected spy in the sky
The massive white orb drifting across U.S. airspace has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and is blowing up on social media. A look at what's known about the balloon crossing the U.S. and what isn't.
One in four Canadian cancer patients still experiencing cancelled appointments: survey
In the field of cancer treatment, nothing is more important than diagnosing and treating the problem as quickly as possible — but according to new survey data, about one in four Canadian cancer patients report that they are still experiencing cancelled or postponed appointments.
Oldest preserved vertebrate brain found in 319-million-year-old fish fossil
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
Russia's Medvedev says more U.S. weapons supplies mean 'all of Ukraine ... will burn'
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has said the supply of more advanced U.S. weaponry to Ukraine will only trigger more retaliatory strikes from Russia, up to the extent of Russia's nuclear doctrine.
Canada tracked suspected Chinese spy balloon over Canadian airspace since last weekend: sources
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was found floating over sensitive military sites in the western United States had been tracked by Canada's government since last weekend as it passed through Canadian airspace, sources tell CTV News.
Former NHL-er Ted Nolan among Indigenous players honoured in new hockey card series
It took 40 years, but former NHL player and coach Ted Nolan is now one of eight Indigenous ex-NHL-ers being honoured hockey trading cards as a part of Upper Deck's First Peoples Rookie Card series.
Indian police nab over 2,000 men for illegal child marriages
Indian police have arrested more than 2,000 men in a crackdown on illegal child marriages involving girls under the age of 18 in a northeastern state, officials said Saturday.
B.C. man who was mistaken for target, shot by police in 2013 has lawsuit dismissed
A B.C. man who was mistaken for the target in a police takedown and shot by an officer in 2013 has had his lawsuit alleging negligence dismissed.