Iqaluit knifepoint robbery accused appears in court

Mason Nuqingaq, 24, of Iqaluit, charged with one count of robbery, appeared in court Feb. 16 for a show-cause hearing. He was ordered to remain in custody until after the courts have finished dealing with the charges that he faces. (FILE PHOTO)

A 24-year-old man, charged with armed robbery in connection with the Feb. 10 knife-point holdup of an Iqaluit convenience store, appeared for a show-cause hearing Feb. 16 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

Mason Nuqingak of Iqaluit faces one count of armed robbery. He was arrested at his home on the late evening of Feb. 10, just three hours after the incident.

In addition to the single count of robbery, Nuqingak also faces two charges of breaching a probation order.

Those two counts stem from a separate incident in May 2014, in which Nuqingak was charged with assault and public mischief.

At the time of that arrest, police alleged he breached probation orders set by the court in relation to a separate case.

Police responded to the Plateau robbery at about 8:15 p.m. Feb. 10, Cpl. Denis Lambe of the RCMP’s Iqaluit detachment told Nunatsiaq News.

A man produced a pocket knife at the cash register and demanded that a cashier empty its contents into a bag, Lambe said.

The man made off with an “undisclosed” amount of cash, police said.

Two employees were working in the store. Neither was injured during the robbery.

Lambe, who was commanding officer of the detachment at the time of the arrest, said a description of the suspect and an investigation quickly led police to Nuqingak’s home in the Happy Valley neighbourhood, where the young man lives with his mother, sister and his younger son.

“We executed the [arrest] warrant at 11:20 [Feb. 10],” Lambe said. “The witness statements that were made at that time, and the investigation all led us back to Mason,” Lambe said.

After his show of cause hearing Feb. 16, Nuqingak was ordered to remain in custody at the Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit until after the court finishes dealing with his charges.

None of the information or evidence given at the show-cause hearing may be published or broadcast. Nuqingak’s next court appearance is set for March 3.

The Feb. 10 incident was Iqaluit’s fourth armed robbery since this past November, Sgt. Yvonne Niego of RCMP’s “V” Division, told Nunatsiaq News.

“I don’t know if they’re all related or not,” Niego said.

Other recent armed robberies of Iqaluit stores occurred at the Apex Road Quickstop convenience store in January, and at a Quickstop store located in the Inuksugait Plaza, in December.

The most recent robbery occurred at Qikiqtaaluk Corp.’s new convenience store in the Plateau. It’s QC’s second convenience store in Iqaluit, an offshoot of its long-running Baffin Gas and Convenience store in the city centre.