Guelph police say a man is facing charges after allegedly stealing and smashing a cash register before taking shelter in a nearby hotel for three hours.
The entire ordeal played out Monday evening while the targeted business near Silvercreek Parkway and Woodlawn Road still had its doors open.
Police said the man reportedly forced himself past a barrier that separates customers from cashiers and demanded that the employee open the register.
“When the employee froze in fear, the male pushed past her and forcefully pulled the whole register off the counter,” police said in a news release.
“He carried the register out to the parking lot where he smashed it on the ground causing the cash drawer to open.”
The service said the man removed the cash and then ran to a nearby hotel.
Officers surrounded the hotel and after about three hours, the man was taken into custody, police said.
A 36-year-old Kitchener man is charged with robbery, mischief and breaching his probation.
He was held in custody and scheduled to have a bail hearing on Tuesday.