UPDATE: Saskatoon purse robbery suspect in police custody
The Saskatoon Police Service has issued an arrest warrant following a string of purse robberies.
They are now on the look out for Brittany Ben, 27, who is wanted on numerous criminal charges including robbery, attempted robbery, and defrauding the robbery victims.
Police believe Ben is responsible for at least eight recent robberies, with many of them taking place near St. Paul’s Hospital on 20th Street West.
Ben is described as five foot five inches, 140 pounds, with brown eyes and long, straight brown hair.
The crimes happened near the hospital grounds, but staff said that’s not to say the site is immune from thefts inside its walls.
Jean Morrison, the hospital’s president and CEO, said St. Paul’s will be stepping up it’s security measures to ensure the safety of patients, their families and staff.
“There are higher levels of crime happen in this area than happened in other parts of the city,” Morrison said.
To ramp security measures, one thing that is being proposed is the removal of the glass rotunda out front.
“Our goal is to be able to have good sightlines on and off the property and not have places that kind of encourage people to hang about.”
Currently, there are up to seven security guards that patrol the site on any given day. To make their job a little easier and increase safety, it’s been suggested that doors be locked leading into the building as well as inside.
Morrison said security also starts with a simple conversation and getting people connected with the right care.
“Sometimes people come and we think they’re here for some reason that they shouldn’t be — but in fact, they are sometimes in medical distress.”
Morrison added groundskeepers and managers are constantly doing environmental assessments, deciding whether tree lines be cut down or bushes removed to improve safety on-site.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Brittany Ben is asked to contact police at 306-975-8300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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