A man holding scissors and a knife allegedly made stabbing motions at staff at a local grocery store.
New Westminster police say they responded to a 911 call at the Safeway store in the Shops at New West about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 17. Loss prevention staff told police they’d approached a man who’d been observed stealing merchandise from the store.
“In response, this male began threatening staff and making stabbing motions while holding scissors and a knife,” said a NWPD press release. “New Westminster Police Department officers rushed to the scene and located someone matching the suspect description a few blocks away. At the time of the arrest, officers located a knife nearby.”
According to the NWPD, the suspect had a variety of food items from Safeway inside his backpack.
“These employees were just trying to do their job,” said NWPD media spokesperson Sgt. Justine Thom in a news release. “It’s appalling that staff were subjected to this type of abuse, and it’s extremely fortunate that no one was seriously injured.”
Christopher Agostino, a 31-year-old Surrey resident, has been charged with two counts of robbery.
Anyone who witnessed this incident and has yet to speak to police about what they saw is asked to call the NWPD at 604-525-5411 (reference file 22-12485.)
