Robbery suspect to have charges resolved

A man accused of robbing several Lethbridge businesses last year is expected to enter pleas and resolve the charges when he returns to court next month.

During a hearing Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court, Lethbridge lawyer Scott Hadford said he is ready to resolve the case against his client, Joshua Lloyd Alston, who is charged with three counts of robbery.

Alston, 37, is one of two men who were charged in relation to a string of robberies between April and August 2017. The other man, Derek Ross Blackmer, pleaded guilty in February to 10 counts of robbery and was sentenced to seven years in a federal penitentiary.

Between April 18 and Aug. 29, 2017, Blackmer robbed three 7Eleven stores, three Macs stores, a liquor store and three gas stations from which he received a total of $800. He often asked a clerk for a plastic bag then demanded the cash be put inside it, and during some robberies he showed a weapon. He walked away from two stores empty handed when the clerks refused his demands, and a couple of times he stole a carton of cigarettes.

Following the last robbery in August, police located the suspect and a second man inside a vehicle in the 1700 block of 17 Street South. They were arrested without incident. Police determined one of the men was responsible for 10 robberies dating back to April and the second man had been involved as a co-accused in three of them. Police indicated at the time that the robberies were motivated by drug use.