Vancouver Island Mounties are on the hunt for a suspect who allegedly robbed a gas station in French Creek.
According to an Oceanside RCMP press release issued Saturday, a man walked into the French Creek Shell gas station — located in the 800-block of Island Highway West — at approximately 7 p.m. on Dec. 2, pulled out a knife, and demanded money from the cashier.
After receiving an undisclosed amount of cash, Oceanside RCMP say the man fled the gas station on foot toward Island Highway West.
No injuries were reported during the incident, the release notes.
The suspect is described as a Caucasian male approximately 5-foot-11 inches tall. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a light grey Carhartt hooded sweatshirt with white Carhartt writing up the left sleeve, white runners with two dark stripes on either side, a dark blue balaclava with white graphics. He was also carrying a light and dark blue Nike bag over his back at the time of the incident.
The Oceanside RCMP press release regarding the French Creek robbery comes hours after the Saanich Police Department issued a release about a similar incident that happened near the Victoria border.
In that incident, Saanich PD says a gas station on Burnside Road West was robbed at knifepoint by a male suspect at around 3 p.m. on Friday. No one was injured either, and although the suspect in that incident was described as 5-foot-5, the vehicle involved was reported stolen out of the Nanaimo area on Dec. 2.
A spokesperson with the BC RCMP told CHEK News in an e-mailed statement that at the moment it doesn’t appear that the two robberies are linked, but that it is still too early to rule anything out.
“While it is early on in the investigation, there is no evidence at this time to suggest this incident is linked to the Saanich incident,” a BC RCMP media spokesperson told CHEK News Saturday afternoon.
Anyone with information regarding the French Creek incident is urged to contact the Oceanside RCMP at (250) 248-6111 quoting file number 2021-12702.
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Nicholas Pescod
