39-year-old Ladysmith resident Dustin Sean Williams has been arrested for committing theft and robbery on two separate occasions in Nanaimo.
Back in April, Nanaimo RCMP sought public assistance in identifying the suspect who stole four high end rings from Mappins Jewellers located in the Woodgrove Centre.
On April 10th, Williams walked into the store and asked to see a variety of rings. After expressing interest and handling them for a while, he suddenly turned around and ran out the door with four rings.
See also: Nanaimo RCMP seeking suspect who stole $20,000 worth of jewelry
Approximately 2 months later, on June 5th the same suspect allegedly pointed a firearm at a clerk in the Best Buy Liquor Store located on Jingle Pot Road in Nanaimo.
At the time of the incident, Williams was wearing a mask and was able to steal money from the till and flee before being apprehended by police.
However, he was arrested shortly afterwards on June 13th after which officers executed a search warrant of his residence which allowed them to gather more evidence.
Several charges
“We had an idea who we thought was responsible. Sometimes if the name or the description is released too early, evidence will be destroyed,” Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson Cst. Gary O’Brien told Victoria Buzz.
“So the boys did a two week project on this guy and they got enough evidence to substantiate the armed robbery charge.”
On top of the armed robbery charges, officers were able to gather enough evidence to charge him with one count of Theft over $5000 for the theft of the rings in April.
Officers have thus far retrieved one of the rings stolen, and the search for the other three is currently ongoing.
Williams was remanded into police custody on June 17th to await his next court appearance in Nanaimo Provincial Court set for June 25th.
