Lethbridge police investigate two robberies on Monday

Police are investigating after two more businesses fell victim to robberies Tuesday night.

The first incident occurred at a Gas Plus along the 100 block of Jerry Potts Boulevard around 9:45 pm.  The other coming at a Petro Canada convenience store in the downtown area, just 40 minutes later.  In both cases, the suspect produced a gun and made off with cash.

Both businesses have surveillance video cameras, but the suspect made an attempt to keep himself hidden.

“We have a suspect that has gone into both these businesses and made attempts to conceal their identity” said Lethbridge Regional Police Service Staff Sergeant Scott Woods.  “So that makes it challenging for our investigation.”

Robberies like the two Monday night are becoming more common in Lethbridge.  The numbers are startling – in 2013 there were just 15 commercial robberies. That number jumped to 22 in 2014. So far this year, there’s already been seven commercial robberies, which puts the city on pace for over 40 if the trend continues.

“There definitely has been a bit of a rash of them,” said Woods.  “It is concerning, because obviously robberies are thefts with violence, or the threat of violence.  So we’re obviously concerned about it.”

Both businesses declined to comment on the situation.  LRPS will provide updates on the investigation as events change.