Police seek shotgun-wielding thieves

Drugs are the likely motivator behind a pair of robberies committed by masked men armed with a shotgun, police said Thursday.

The incidents were reported within hours of each other. Const. Pat Nagy said the first crime is likely a case of mistaken identity, but a pizza deliveryman was targeted the second time.

Despite the violent nature of the crimes — the victims were assaulted and bound with tape — investigators are confident the public has nothing to fear, Nagy said Thursday.

Police were called to the 800 block of Sahali Terrace shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday. Two suspects wearing masks and armed with a shotgun forced their way into the home and bear sprayed and head butted the victim, 29.

The man was bound and the suspects searched the residence. Nagy said the culprits were looking for the previous occupants, who recently moved out.

“It’s basically a case of mistaken identity,” she said. The victim moved into the condo on Feb. 1.

The suspects fled with a laptop before the victim could free himself and phone 911.

Police believe the suspects then made a phone call to Domino’s Pizza in North Kamloops and asked that food be delivered to a home on Cree Drive on the Tk’emlups Indian Band.

Store manager Louis Nelson said he became worried when an hour passed and his driver did not return. He phoned the driver’s cellphone, but nobody answered.

Another driver went to find the missing employee and found him tied up outside an empty house on Cree.

Nagy said three masked men armed with a shotgun had attacked the driver and hit him in the ear with the weapon.

At one point his cellphone rang and one of the suspects answered. He bragged to the caller that he was robbing the deliveryman, she said.

Nelson said the driver is shaken but wants to return to work as soon as possible.

Domino’s owner Rocky Hunter asks his drivers to follow procedure when making a delivery. He said drivers are supposed to confirm the order with the customer prior to knocking on the door. This did not happen Wednesday night.

“We’re really enforcing that they have to do call backs every single run,” he said. Customers are also asked to leave a light on for the driver.

“If the driver doesn’t feel safe, they are definitely not asked to even go into the driveway.”

Domino’s drivers do not carry more than $20 per delivery, said Hunter.

Investigators with the RCMP’s serious crime unit, drug section and Kamloops Action Response Team are on the case. Nagy said the suspects are believed to be Caucasian men in their 30s.

Anyone with information is asked to phone police at 250-828-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

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