York Regional Police say a semi-automatic assault rifle was among several weapons seized from a Mississauga home as part of a robbery investigation.
In a news release issued Thursday, York police said the investigation, in partnership with Toronto police, related to two 2020 robberies in York Region and two in Toronto earlier this year.
Police said that during the afternoon of Sept. 22, two males wearing ski masks went to a bank near Warden and Steeles avenues in Markham and unsuccessfully tried to force open locked doors. They reportedly fled in a dark-coloured vehicle.
Not long after, the same suspects went to a mobile phone store on Weston Road armed with a handgun and “obtained a quantity of phones,” police said. There were no injuries reported.
Police said Thursday that investigators were able to identify suspects and executed search warrants at two Mississauga homes. At one of the homes, officers allegedly located a handgun, a Taser, a semi-automatic shotgun, a semi-automatic assault rifle, and an air soft rifle.
Police said one ounce of crack cocaine, one pound of marijuana, and $2,000 were also allegedly found.
One suspect was charged in connection with two robberies that occurred in Toronto: one on Jan. 15 in Etobicoke and the second on Jan. 16 in Scarborough, police said.
Officers added that two additional people found in the home with the weapons were also charged.
Among the charges laid, 20-year-old Israel Braithwaite and 21-year-old Jaidyn Young, both Mississauga residents, were charged with robbery with a firearm.