The suspect connected to an armed robbery and attempted robbery in Cochrane has been caught.
RCMP arrested a 27-year-old man from Airdrie in Strathmore on Tuesday in relation to a hit and run that left a motorcycle driver with serious injuries on Sunday.
The suspect was also arrested in connection with a Cochrane robbery that left one liquor store clerk afraid for her life when an armed man demanded money and threatened to kill her.
“I don’t even know how to explain it – I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to die,’” said the clerk, who works at Fourth Avenue Liquor and asked not to be identified due to safety concerns.
Working on May 10 at night as the only staff member, the clerk said she was in the back of the store when she heard someone yelling.
“He was yelling at me to ‘come over here’ then he grabbed me and pushed me down and stole the tray,” the clerk recalled.
“Afterwards, he was yelling at me not to move or call the RCMP or he’d come back and kill me.”
She said she was “stiff and sore” from being “thrown around.” She was also making plans to attend therapy and said she is taking stress leave.
The robbery occurred at approximately 11:20 p.m., half an hour before a similar attempted robbery took place at Happy’s Liquor Store, located on Fifth Avenue.
The man entered the store and showed the clerk a small knife. The clerk did not comply with the robber’s demands and there was a brief altercation between them that resulted in the clerk receiving some scratches.
The clerk at Happy’s Liquor Store said nothing was stolen.
Both incidents happened on May 10 between 11:20 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
“The suspect has been caught and is connected to other robberies in the surrounding communities,” said RCMP Cpl. Curtis Peters.
Included in the crime spree were robberies in Olds on May 8, Airdrie on May 11 and Carstairs on May 14.
Christopher Ferguson from Airdrie Alberta now faces 20 charges including robbery with an offensive weapon, assault with a weapon, failing to comply with probation conditions, impaired operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm, failing to remain at the scene of a collision, uttering threats and public mischief. He has been remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear on May 17 in Calgary Provincial Court.
