A suspected thief who couldn’t stay away from robbing Langley businesses, even after being arrested twice and released, is finally in custody.
Surrey resident Kevin Gogel, 23, is believed to be responsible for shoplifting and three armed robberies over a one week crime spree in Langley.
He is facing numerous charges and appeared in court on Friday. A Surrey Provincial Court judge has decided he be remanded in custody until at least April 24 when he will appear again.
On March 30, Gogel was arrested after being detained by loss prevention staff at Wal-mart after he allegedly shoplifted $80 worth of DVDs. He was released at the scene to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on June 26.
Approximately a half hour later, police were called to attend Fatburger Restaurant where a man displaying a knife had taken money from the till and fled on foot.
The officer attending the call at Wal-mart took note of the similar suspect description and an investigation led police to believe Gogel was likely responsible for the Fatburger robbery as well.
An arrest warrant was granted and executed by Surrey RCMP on April 1. Gogel was arrested and released from custody on April 2.
By April 6, he was at it again.
At approximately 9 p.m., Langley RCMP received a report of an attempted robbery at the Chevron in the 20000 block of Fraser Highway. On this occasion, the suspect displayed a knife and demanded money. However, he fled, on foot, empty-handed when another customer entered the store. A description of the suspect was provided to police.
Unfortunately for the suspect, the same officer who had investigated the March 30 crimes was working and recognized the description and circumstances to be very similar to the earlier robberies, said Langley RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Holly Marks.
Not even 20 minutes later, another robbery was reported at the Burger King nearby where a virtually identical description was provided. The responding officer broadcast the description to other patrol cars in the area and a short time later, he was observed by Citizens Crime Watch volunteers. Lower Mainland Police Dog Services attended and located Gogel who immediately surrendered to the arresting officer.
This time, Gogel has been held in custody.
Gogel is facing similar charges in unrelated crimes.