Hague Shell robbed at gunpoint

Masked robbers tied up a 64-yearold gas station attendant and fled with cash, cigarettes and lottery tickets, RCMP say.

Just before 4 a.m. Friday, five people stopped at a Shell station in Hague on Highway 11 and filled the car’s tank with gas. All five went into the station wearing balaclavas and hooded sweatshirts, brandishing a gun and a knife.

The employee was working alone, as is typical for overnight shifts at the gas station, manager Roxi Jessome said.

The suspects forced the man to the ground behind the cash register and tied his hands with laces. They made off with the loot in a light silver four-door Pontiac sedan, according to police.

The employee was able to get up and call 911 after the thieves had fled. He was not physically injured in the robbery.

“He’s shaken up, definitely. Physically okay, but emotionally — we’re not sure right now,” Jessome said.

The employee had just done a safe drop of cash right before the robbery, so the cash register had no more than $150 inside at the time, Jessome added.

Rosthern RCMP are investigating the robbery, along with forensic investigators from Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan government changed labour rules in late 2012 in an effort to protect late-night retail workers. Any employee working alone at night must do regular check-ins, and wear a personal emergency transmitter.

The law also spells out how cash should be handled, and requires video cameras for businesses that are open late.

Friends and family of a Yorkton gas station employee who was killed in a 2011 late-night armed robbery lobbied unsuccessfully for “Jimmy’s law,” which would have required at least two employees to work together at night.