Two men are in custody after a two-hour manhunt for suspects believed to have held up the Boyle Co-op gas bar Sunday night.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, the Boyle RCMP received a call that a male subject allegedly entered the gas bar wielding a pipe.
The suspect demanded money from the cashier and made off with an undisclosed amount of money, according to Boyle RCMP Sgt. Kevin McGillivray.
“The cashier opened the register, and the suspect reached over and retrieved the cash out of the cash register,” said McGillivray, who acknowledged this kind of incident as fairly uncommon for Boyle.
According to McGillivray, a westbound vehicle matching the one seen fleeing the scene was identified approximately 25 minutes later by Boyle RCMP, and a traffic stop was initiated on Highway 55 between Athabasca and Highway 827. Two males were found in the vehicle.
One of the suspects fled on foot as the second suspect was detained by police. Backup was called in, and a manhunt began.
The suspect was arrested at about 10:30 p.m. a few kilometres south of Highway 55.
Multiple detachments were involved in the case, said McGillivray. They included Boyle RCMP, Boyle Traffic Services, Athabasca RCMP, Athabasca Traffic Services, and the St. Paul RCMP Police Dog Services.
As of press time, charges had not been laid, though McGillivray said this would happen once RCMP “further the investigation a little more.”
