Teenage girls reveal cravings for cholocate instead of cash in gas station robbery

This happened near my university down the hill... funny thing is: the girls value chocolate more than cold hard cash!

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.html?id=4b45523a-e3ca-4f23-8cca-3a9633b89a5f

Girls use weapons in chocolate heist
Bear spray and metal pipe brandished in theft of candy from gas station

Ethan Baron, with a file by David Carrigg
The Province

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

In Willy Wonka's world, two girls from Burnaby would be forced to gorge on bon bons till they barfed.

In real life, they'll have to show up in court and face charges connected to an armed robbery of a gas station store.

Police are puzzled, and a local chocolatier is in shock, after three female teens brandished weapons and stole "a fistful" of chocolate bars from the store.

"Robbery is not funny," said Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Pierre Lemaitre, giggling. "It's just incredible. They wanted chocolate. That's it. I'm serious. No money was taken. It was just, 'Gimme the chocolate.'

"I've seen a lot, and I haven't seen one like this before."

Around 7:45 p.m. Monday, the trio walked into a Shell gas station in the 4100-block North Road in Burnaby, 100 metres from the Lougheed Town Centre SkyTrain station. One girl had a metal pipe protruding from the back of her pants; another was brandishing a can of bear spray.

"They told the clerk they had weapons," Lemaitre said. "They threatened him menacingly. There was no doubt in the clerk's mind that they meant business."

The girls grabbed "a fistful" of chocolate bars and fled, he said.

Last night, a Hershey saleswoman was restocking the store with

Oh Henry bars while tight-lipped staff looked on.

Police believe the crime was premeditated. "Obviously it wasn't spur-of-the-moment," Lemaitre said.

Two suspects, aged 16 and 17, were later arrested, and metal pipes seized. RCMP are seeking the third suspect, who was heavy-set and wearing black clothing.

"Something tells us that we're not going to find that chocolate," Lemaitre said.

Over the Moon Chocolate Company owner Rob Greenhow deals with chocolate-seeking teens daily, but they don't come at him with weapons and threats.

"I'm in shock," Greenhow said. "You've got to be pretty desperate to be stealing chocolate. I can think of better things to steal."

Over the Moon is located near Kitsilano High School, and teen girls frequent the place.

"The only problem we've ever had is if there's samples out, they just come in and eat all the samples and leave.

"Generally, they're quite well behaved."

At the least, the two girls caught after the robbery will be charged with theft, Lemaitre said.

"It's an armed robbery," Lemaitre said. "As odd as this crime sounds, it certainly probably wasn't very amusing for the clerk who was working, earning his pay that night. A threat was made."

Chocolate produces a chemical reaction in the body that's akin to love, Greenhow said.

Most of his customers are women, and many visit "every three weeks or so."

Asked if hormones could be a factor in the gas-station robbery, Lemaitre noted that his wife likes chocolate.

"I don't want to answer that one."

A possible explanation may come from academia.

"There is some credence to the idea that there is an addictive component to chocolate," said University of B.C. biochemistry professor Roger Brownsey. "It's not too far-fetched to think it could become a central thought in your life."

ebaron@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2005

 

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