This story has been corrected. The original misidentified the location of the robbery suspect's arrest.
Two separate incidents brought police to Burnaby’s Metrotown mall last Thursday evening.
At about 6:45 p.m., Burnaby RCMP got a call about a person with a weapon, possibly a knife, according to an emailed police statement.
When officers arrived, they located a 37-year-old man being held by security guards near the upstairs Lids location near the food court.
Police took the man into custody after he was linked to an alleged robbery at a jewelry store in the mall, according to police.
The suspect had used a metal tool to break display cases inside the store, police said.
After his arrest, the man was taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
Neeraj Lal, 37, has now been charged with one count of robbery.
He is in custody and awaiting a bail hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
A short time before the jewelry store incident, just after 6 p.m., police had gotten a separate, unrelated report of a group of teenagers fighting inside the mall near the downstairs Lids in the northwest area of the mall.
Instead of fighting amongst themselves, however, it turned out the teens had reportedly assaulted an unidentified victim with a pipe or pole before fleeing the area, according to Burnaby RCMP.
A.H., who had been at the mall that evening, told the Burnaby NOW she had seen the beginning of the altercation.
She said she had seen a group of about four youths all clad in black puffy jackets and wearing balaclavas attack a man who had bumped into them.
Metrotown Mall Attack
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"They were all dressed the same," A.H. said of the youths.
"Eventually, I saw one of the dudes making this stabbing motion, and I saw he had a knife, so after that I just left, and I saw two security guards running towards the scene."
Police attended the scene and located the victim, according to Burnaby RCMP, but he refused to cooperate with the investigation.
"The victim did not sustain any injuries and no weapon was located," read a Burnaby RCMP statement.
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