Video shows Toronto shoe store employees in fight for life with armed robbery suspect

Security video shows two employees at a downtown Toronto shoe store valiantly fighting to disarm a robbery suspect who got left behind by his accomplices.

By Michael Talbot

Posted June 26, 2024 6:25 pm.

CityNews has obtained security video that shows two employees at a downtown Toronto shoe store valiantly fighting to disarm a robbery suspect who got left behind by his accomplices.

Toronto police confirmed the incident occurred on Sunday at Backdoor Toronto in the Queen Street West and John Street area. Police say the suspects arrived in a stolen vehicle.

The store provided CityNews with security footage of the frightening incident which shows the three masked suspects storm into the store at around 6:10 p.m.

One of them pulls out a gun and orders the employees to get on the ground.

The suspects then start trying to steal clothes and other items. At one point the video shows them futilely pulling on a rack of clothes that’s chained down.

As the trio flees the store with items, the video shows one of the employees tackle a suspect near the doorway. Another employee quickly runs to help and a desperate life-or-death battle begins. The employees quickly gain the upper hand, raining punches down on the squirming suspect’s head.

“Let go of the gun or I’ll f**k you up,” one of the employees can be heard yelling during the adrenaline-soaked brawl.

The suspect’s accomplices had seen enough, and took off in the stolen vehicle, leaving the lone suspect to fend for himself.

At one point in the ensuing struggle one of the employees manages to wrest the gun from the suspect and tosses it out of reach.

The now-unarmed suspect figures it’s a good time to leave, but the employees block him from exiting. In frustration, the suspect starts throwing shoes.

The video ends with a Toronto Police officer arriving and making an arrest.

A 15-year-old boy from Toronto is facing the following charges: