Three men charged in Armed Robbery of armoured truck, Handgun recovered (update)

Three people arrested this morning are being accused of ambushing a security guard by gunfire overnight, targeting his armoured truck for the second time in a month.

The 37-year-old security guard is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot multiple times during an attempted robbery while he was in the area of Avenue Road and Brookdale Avenue, just north of Lawrence Avenue, at around 1:15 a.m. Thursday.

The armoured car driver put the truck into lockdown, and stayed inside the vehicle. The suspects then fled on foot — empty handed.

A short time later, police closed in on an area near Lawrence and Allan Road, and arrested three, 18-year old suspects. They also recovered a semi-automatic handgun.

Charged with attempted murder, armed robbery, and several other offences — are Jaden Beckford, Nicholas Cross, and Rashid Clarke.

Mike Earl: “All three individuals have never been dealt with by the police before.”

But police believe this isn’t their first attempt to rob the same truck. The suspects are being linked to a similar type of ambush on June 5th.

Mike Earl: “It’s the actual — the truck, or the company that’s being targetted.”

The ambush shut down Avenue Road for several hours as investigators gathered evidence. Shell casings. Errant bullets, that hit a nearby apartment building, and blood samples from the scene. They also gathered pictures from security cameras in the area — and asked for anyone using such a camera, to come forward to police.

Agencies/Canadajournal