Man and Woman Arrested for Three Retail Robberies and Two Retail Thefts, Gerald Baker, 25 and Chatima Powless, 37

Man and Woman Arrested for Three Retail Robberies and Two Retail Thefts, Gerald Baker, 25 and Chatima Powless, 37

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 4:00 PM
Hold Up:  416-808-7350

The Toronto Police Service Hold Up Squad would like to make the public aware of two arrests made in relation to three retail robberies and two retail thefts.

Between Monday, March 16, 2020, and Friday, April 3, 2020, three retail store robberies and two retail store thefts were committed at LCBO locations across the Toronto area.

It is alleged that:

- a man and woman entered the LCBO stores

- the man and woman took numerous bottles of liquor off the shelves and filled-up large hockey equipment bags that they brought with them

- the man was armed with a large knife that he waved around at store employees and threatened them

- in one of the incidents, a store Security Officer was cut on the hand by the knife

Hold Up Squad investigators, with the assistance of 51 Division Major Crime Unit, determined the identity of the man and woman and located them.

On Saturday, April 11, 2020, Gerald Baker, 25, of Toronto was arrested. He is charged with:

1. three counts of Robbery with an Offensive Weapon
2. two counts of Disguise with Intent
3. two counts of Possession of a Weapon
4. two counts of Carry Concealed Weapon
5. Uttering Threats
6. Theft Under
7. two counts of Conspiracy to Commit Indictable Offence
8. four counts of Fail to Comply with Probation Order
9. six counts of Fail to Comply with Release Order

He was scheduled to appear in court at Old City Hall, on Sunday, April 12, 2020 at 10 a.m., room 101.

On Saturday, April 11, 2020, Chatima Powless, 37, of Toronto was arrested. She is charged with:

1. Robbery with an Offensive Weapon
2. two counts of Theft Under
3. Conspiracy to Commit Indictable Offence

She was scheduled to appear in court at Old City Hall on Sunday, April 12, 2020 at 10 a.m., room 101.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7350, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes or Google Play.

For more news, visit TPSnews.ca.

Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu, Corporate Communications, for Insp. Lauren Pogue, Hold Up