A multi-jurisdictional police investigation has resulted in the arrest of 16 men in connection with a spree of 37 robberies, including a violent, armed hold-up attempt at a Barrie convenience store last summer.
A clerk required several stitches after being roughed up in the June 2, 2016 incident at the Hasty Market on Mapleview Drive West.
Barrie Police said two masked men, armed with a knife and a gun, hit the clerk on the head with the gun after the employee was unable to open the cash register.
The bandits fled the scene empty-handed in a car reported stolen days earlier from the Greater Toronto Area.
At the time, Barrie Police said the same suspects were wanted by York Regional Police after an armed robbery two hours later at a Tim Hortons near Don Mills Road and Steeles Avenue East in Thornhill.
In that incident, the suspects jumped over the front counter and one of them assaulted a female employee while demanding cash from the till.
Barrie Police Const. Nicole Rodgers says investigators obtained a license plate from the getaway vehicle and the connections to other crimes, in part, flowed from that.
"After speaking to investigators at Toronto Police Service we also obtained information the same suspects driving the same stolen vehicle were responsible for another robbery reported to York Regional Police," said Rodgers. "At this point detectives at Barrie Police worked hand in hand with Toronto Police and York Regional Police until the most recent arrests, using video surveillance and witness testimony to link the offences together."
Toronto Police announced the arrests last week at a news conference where the head of the Hold-Up Squad said the robberies involved a group of what he called 'pathetic parasites' with alleged ties to two Toronto gangs.
Staff-Insp. Mike Earl said “a well-orchestrated group of thugs” involving members of the Complex Crip Gangsters and the Treyy Money Gang were arrested with the help of police in York Region, Peel, Guelph, Halton, Hamilton, Durham and Barrie.
In a news release, police alleged gang members 'operated in a very sophisticated manner to avoid detection' by interchanging roles from stealing cars, which were then used in the robberies, to being getaway drivers or acting as the upfront robber armed with a firearm.
During the robberies police said several weapons were used to terrorize the victims, including handguns, a sawed-off shotgun and a bolt-action shotgun
"This large, complex investigation is also related to 18 vehicles stolen from Toronto, Guelph, Halton and Peel regions between Monday, May 16, 2016 and Wednesday, July 13, 2016," the police news release also stated.
Approximately a dozen robberies are still under active investigation and police are encouraging anyone with information to contact them.
Arrest warrants are out for three other males including a 17-year-old from Toronto.
The news release and list of arrests/charges can be found here.
