VPD searching for suspect who used bear spray in downtown robbery

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Posted December 13, 2021 2:20 pm.

Last Updated December 13, 2021 3:24 pm.

Vancouver police are searching for a suspect in what they describe as a “violent robbery” at a downtown department store.

On Dec. 3, police say someone entered the Holt Renfrew in Pacific Centre around 6 p.m. and sprayed a “cloud of bearspray” before walking out with an $1,800 purse.

“This was a violent crime that occurred on one of the busiest shopping nights of the year and affected many people,” says Sgt. Steve Addison, spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department.

“The entire store had to be evacuated because it was so hard to breathe.”

Police are releasing video of the suspect, hoping someone can help them identify the person. The suspect was either a man or woman in their 20s, wearing a yellow face mask, a green hoodie, and a black hat with a white logo on the front.

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at (604) 717-4022, or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

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