Suspects in armed robberies back in court today
RNC believes all four involved in crime spree
Four people arrested over the weekend in connection to a series of armed robberies will return to court Monday for bail hearings.
The robberies targeted three businesses and happened within a 30minute stretch early Saturday morning. The four suspects were arrested shortly after the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary received a call about the last incident at an Ultramar service station on Elizabeth Avenue in St. John’s. Officers stopped a vehicle the suspects were in at a nearby intersection.
The four accused — Justin James Anderson, Devon Chezanne Hart, Aleshia Dawn O’Regan and Gordon Henry White — have only been charged in connection to that incident.
However, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Const. Steve Curnew confirmed Saturday after all four suspects appeared in court that police are still investigating and do believe those people were involved in two similar crimes.
“We believe all three armed robberies are related,” Curnew told reporters Saturday outside provincial court in St. John’s. “The information that we have received on all three armed robberies are similar.”
Officers were first called to a Subway restaurant in Mount Pearl and then a Tim Hortons location on Portugal Cove Road. The suspects wore masks and took money in both cases. The latter business is located a short distance from the Ultramar gas station on Elizabeth Avenue.
Police have not disclosed what weapon was used during the robberies. There were no injuries.
On Saturday, Judge Jacqueline Brazil ordered Hart and White to undergo psychiatric assess-ments. They made a second court appearance Sunday and are reportedly fit to stand trial.
Hart, O’Regan and White face additional charges for allegedly breaching court orders. Earlier this year, O’Regan was jointly charged with Justin Michael Chipman for allegedly stealing from a Dominion grocery store in Conception Bay South on Jan. 22. Chipman was arrested in February on a variety of charges following an incident where an RNC officer was injured and another officer fired a bullet at the vehicle Chipman was driving.
The accused range in age from 20 to 23.