A shoplifting incident at a dollar store in downtown New West escalated to the point where a clerk was punched and a police officer was threatened.
The New Westminster Police Department reports that it received a 911 call about 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 29 about a robbery in progress at a business on Carnarvon Street.
NWPD spokesperson Sgt. Sanjay Kumar the suspect allegedly entered the Dollar Tree at the Shops at New West and gathered up items, such as drinks, chips and candies.
“He selected items of not much value and then exited the store, so he was followed by one of the employees who confronted him,” he said. “It was during that time that this interaction took place where the employee was advanced upon and was struck.”
After being punched in the face just outside the store, the clerk retreated and called New West police, say police.
Kumar said the clerk suffered minor injuries in the incident.
According to a NWPD press release, witnesses directed police officers to a bank vestibule, where the suspect was believed to be located. The NWPD said officers identified themselves from outside the bank vestibule and provided instructions to the suspect so he could be safely taken into custody, but he threatened the officers and made racist comments towards them.
“It was as one of our members who was approaching him to make the arrest, this is when the uttering threats happened, where Mr. West threatened harm to our member,” Kumar told the Record. “At the same time, he made a very firm racial slur. I’m not sure how to say it without saying it. The officer is a non-white male, and the slur was in relation to that.”
Kumar said the suspect refused to comply with police direction, so members had to use OC pepper spray to safely arrest him.
“The way the interaction was going it likely could have led to more of a hands-on physical interaction,” he said. “Our members tried to avoid this by applying OC spray, which allowed them to safely take him into custody.”
Gregory West, 28, has been charged with one count of theft under $5,000, one count of assault and one count of mischief. He has also been charged with one count of uttering threats.
“It’s one of those ones that this could have been a relatively simple file to deal with, but due to the nature of this individual he decided to escalate it, where he assaulted someone, made a racial slur to our member,” Kumar said. “It was completely inappropriate.”
Kumar said he feels bad that employees have to deal with situations like the one at the Dollar Tree.
“I want to say to all the frontline customer services workers in the city that we see how hard you’re working and you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” he said in a news release. “Furthermore, racist comments directed at our officers, or anyone in the community, are completely unacceptable.”
