The number of businesses and banks being robbed in Ottawa has spiked over the same time last year. And robbers are targeting unusual spots including a furniture store, even the bus terminal.  An increase in violent robberies is never a good thing but if there is one positive note in this, it is that the same culprits have been responsible for many of the robberies and they've been caught.

The footage from a surveillance camera captures the desperation of a robber as he races into a pharmacy on Baseline Road, demanding drugs. He gets locked in the store and tries to crawl out through the ceiling, only to fall to the floor.  He flees through a window. Staff-Sergeant Mike Haarbosch is with the Ottawa Police Robbery Unit, ‘They’ll take whatever they can get their hands on at the end of the day,’ says Haarbosch, ‘but most commonly, they’re after fentanyl.’

Ultimately, though, they're after cash, wherever they can get it.  Retail robberies have spiked this year in Ottawa up 39% over the same time last year.  Bank robberies are up 54%, according to police statistics.

Many of the robberies target convenience stores, sometimes the same store as is the case with the Quickie store on Bank Street, robbed twice by the same culprit two days apart. For employees, it's a frightening situation, facing a robber potentially armed with a knife or gun -- desperate enough to perhaps use it. Chris Wilcox is the general manager of the Quickie stores in Ottawa.

‘We teach the staff to cooperate with robber,’ says Wilcox, ‘you never know what kind of mental state they're in so whatever they ask for, give them, let them leave store and when they do, lock the doors and call police.’

Wilcox says robberies are fortunately rare there, averaging about one a year, since the stores dramatically increased security measures. 16 high-definition cameras capture movement both inside and outside the store. Controlled access doors and time lock safes manage are added security features. 

That may explain why robbers have been targeting other businesses like a furniture store on Heron Road or Ottawa’s bus terminal. 

‘That becomes part of the investigation as to why that particular spot was targeted,’ says Haarbosch.

While the number of robberies is up, police have had good success catching some of the thieves thanks to good quality images. Police arrested one man in connection with the robberies at the Bank Street Quickie store and linked him to 5 other robberies.  And another serial robbery suspect was arrested in connection to 14 robberies.  So while the number of robberies is up, it is half the story since two suspects are responsible for nearly half of those robberies.  And those two suspects are currently behind bars.