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VPD arrest maskless shoplifter who pulled baton on grocery store worker

Maskless shopper steals single apple, pulls baton on grocery store worker and is arrested all in the same day
Grocery store apples
After a being confronted for not wearing a mask inside a Vancouver grocery store, the shopper made off with a single apple without paying for it.

Vancouver Police arrested a shoplifter earlier this month after he allegedly pulled a baton on a grocery store employee who asked him to put on a mask.

According to a release from the VPD, the 20-year-old frontline worker was working at the Robson Street grocery store around 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 when he saw a shopper walking around without a mask. When the worker asked the shopper to mask up, the man became angry and threatened to assault the staff member. He then grabbed an apple and left without paying.

After the worker followed him outside, the suspect allegedly pulled out a baton and charged at him. The man fled before police arrived.

Later that same day VPD officers were able to track down the suspect, a 28-year-old man, just as he was allegedly trying to break into a locked compound in a mall parkade.

The man is now charged with robbery, break and enter, and possession of break-in tools.