Two Okanagan men have been arrested and charged with the robberies of Princeton Shoppers Drug Mart and Peoples Drug Mart in Golden, B.C.
Shortly after noon on Jan. 30 two individuals armed with pocketknives robbed the Shoppers Drug Mart taking approximately $825 worth of prescription drugs. Expectant mother and pharmacist Julie Traballo, was threatened with a knife.
On Feb. 16, the Peoples Drug Mart Pharmacy in Golden, B.C., experienced a similar robbery. Two men entered the store and went directly to the pharmacist counter, demanding narcotic type prescription drugs and threatened the pharmacist with a knife. The suspects left with a large amount of prescription drugs.
After both robberies the suspects fled on foot.
Combined efforts of Princeton and Golden RCMP, the Penticton South Okanagan Similkameen RCMP General Investigation Section along with support by local Forensic Ident units has resulted in the arrest of two Okanagan men.
"As a result of some good basic information sharing and tenacious police work, investigators from two BC RCMP jurisdictions were able to link the two crimes in short order, quickly identifying the suspects and arrested the two accused before they had a chance to possibly reoffend and cause any further risk to public safety," stated Cpl Dan Moskaluk.
Just outside of Golden, on Feb. 22, RCMP arrested the pair in a mobile home park, finding evidence relating to both the Princeton and Golden robberies.
On Feb 27, 2013 the two appeared in court in Invermere, B.C.
Lucas Holman and Travis Hutzul, both of Penticton, B.C., were charged with two counts of robbery. Holman was remanded into custody until March 12 and Hutzul pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and received a sentence of one year in custody per count.