2024-07-30 Press Release

Smiths Falls Police Arrest Male in Robbery

On the 28^th of July 2024 Smiths Falls Police attended a local REXALL store after a report of a robbery. The male suspect entered the store advising he had a gun and demanded cash and left the area. Police had put out a bulletin in the area.

On the 29^th of July 2024 a very astute LCBO employee noted a suspicious male in the area that she thought looked like the one who committed the robbery and took a photo of a license plate, and called police. That in turn, opened up the investigation further.

Overnight on the 30^th of July 2024 Smiths Falls Police located the vehicle and male in the Canadian Tire Parking lot and arrested him for robbery offences.

Mark Rogers 53 years old from Kanata was arrested and charged for robbery. At the time of this offence, he was unlawfully at large and out on parole for a break and enter with intent. He has a lengthy criminal record for parole violations and other criminal offences.

“Another example of our justice system allowing high risk parole violators out in the community with very little supervision in place. His warrant wasn’t put out until Sunday- the day he committed this offence. Once his warrant expires, he will be back out again with a high risk to re-offend. Someone needs to advocate for victims, in this case a young cashier just doing their job. I have personally thanked the LCBO employee for going above and beyond her job in assisting the police. We had a lot of calls from the Community about possible sightings of this male, and that’s what policing in our community is about.” - Chief Jodi Empey- SFPS