Three suspects, Reginald ("Rusty") Phillips, 24, Jeremy ("Jimmy") White, 25, and Daniel ("Danny") Jacobson, 20, were apprehended seperately after a robbery at the Mac's Milk near Library Square on Robson Street in Vancouver on January 4, 2019.

All three suspects were brought to Vancouver Police Lock-up on Cambie Street and held separately for questioning.

According to witnesses at the scene, Daniel Jacobson was the driver of the getaway vehicle, a white 2009 Volkswagen Passat, stolen earlier from a carpark at Pender and Cambie Street in Vancouver. Jacobson was charged initially with possession of a stolen vehicle and reckless driving, and as a party to the robbery. Later police added the charge of aiding and abetting the assault and attempted murder of the Mac's Milk store clerk, Jennifer Cho.

At approximately 10:45 pm, two men (identified by video footage as "Red Mask" and "White Shoes") entered the convenience store from Robson Street. A light-coloured automobile, matching generally the description of the stolen vehicle, could be seen pulling alongside the store on Hamilton Street.

The two men, both wearing face coverings, raised guns at the store clerk and demanded cash. The clerk, Ms. Cho, opened the cash register, leaving the keys in the cash register drawer. As she did so, she pressed a silent alarm button under the counter to alert police. The man wearing the red mask pushed her aside, causing her to fall and hit her head on a shelf. Ms. Cho temporarily lost consciousness.

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There was not much money in the cash register: only 86 dollars in cash and rolled coins. The second suspect, in a black face-covering and white training shoes, ("White Shoes") then assaulted Ms. Cho as she lay prone on the floor, kicking her awake. He then held a shotgun to her face and asked where the store safe was. Ms. Cho told the robbers that the store safe was electronically timed and that the key - on the ring with the cash register and back door keys, only accessed the safe's "deposit slot."

The robbers took the keys and tried to access the safe. Apparently, the last deposit had not fully "passed through" into the inside and they attempted to withdraw it with the steel handlebar Macs supplied to clerks for that purpose, whenever a plastic tube jammed inside the safe's 'gateway.'

Police arrived while the suspects were trying to pry the safe, whereupon they grabbed and held Mr. Cho as a shield, struck her with the handlebar, fired at least one shot at the front window, and using the store keys, unlocked and fled into the side alley that runs between Hamilton and an alley paralleling Homer Street. Police distracted by the breaking glass and gunfire, recovered and gave chase on foot and by car.

Video footage showed that the white car pulled away from the curb as soon as police lights approached the scene.

The suspect Phillips was trapped at the entrance of a car park on Richards Street and surrendered to police. He was found with 70 dollars in cash but with no rolled coins. He was no longer wearing a mask, which was not recovered, nor the distinctive hoodie seen on video, (also not recovered) but did have the same kind of red gloves seen in the store video.

Police continued their search and spotted a man with white tennis shoes and what appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun jump into a white car at Georgia and Seymour streets. Police gave chase and boxed in the car. The suspect, White, then fled the vehicle on foot while the suspect Jacobson surrendered to police.

White was soon apprehended by the police K-9 Unit, and brought to Cambie Street.

All three suspects were informed of their Charter rights upon arrest; their right to remain silent and their right to retain and instruct counsel. They were then interviewed separately in police custody.

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Interview of Reginald Phillips

RP: "I aint saying nothing until I speak to my lawyer." VPD: "So you have a lawyer - that is good."

RP: "I don't need you to tell me that, you fat prick." VPD: (inaudible)

RP: "Hey, you can't hit me!"

VPD: "Nonsense. I did nothing. Get up and sit down. We only have a few questions."

RP: "I don't have to tell you nothing."

VPD: "Do you actually have a lawyer?"

RP: "No."

VPD: "That's fine, well, duty counsel is on the way. He'll be here in five minutes."

RP: "Okay - good."

VPD: "You want water or a Coke or something?"

RP: "Yah, a Coke would be good."

VPD: ( Pause ) "Sure, it's coming. What is your full legal name?"

RP: "Reginald Darcy Phillips. I go by 'Rusty.'"

VPD: "Fine. When were you born, Rusty?"

RP: "September 25, 1994"

VPD: "That's a Libra, right?"

RP: "I suppose - say what do you want? Why am I here?"

VPD: "You are being held on suspicion of armed robbery, assault and attempted murder."

RP: "What? Attempted murder? I never killed nobody."

VPD: "Well, you shot two store clerks, and it looks like one of them might die. Then it will be murder - what we used to call constructive first degree murder."

RP: "Two clerks? There weren't no two clerks in that store."

VPD: "No? Well two people are down - I don't know any more about it." RP: "Hey, I aint telling you nothing. I never shot nobody. I was at home." VPD: "Good, well let's just wait. Murder's a big deal. We have lots of time."

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RP: "I didn't shoot no clerk, I didn't shoot nobody. She was just knocked out..."

VPD: "Well, somebody shot her. We're checking the gun for prints right now."

RP: Hey, Dumbo - look at these gloves. There aint none of my prints nowhere. You dumb shit."

VPD: "Here's your lawyer. We can begin."

The suspect Jeremy White

Jeremy White made two statements while in police custody. He had been read his Charter rights to silence and to retain a lawyer when arrested and put in a police van. On the way to lock-up, the van stopped and police placed Constable Frank Steele, in plain clothes, in the back of the van with White. At one point on their travels, Steele, also in handcuffs, complained to the driver that White was "bleeding all over the place" and that "he needs a doctor." The police driver told him to shut up. Steele then turned to White and said, "This guy looks pretty bad." In answer, more to himself than to Steele, White reportedly said: "That f**king Danny - he can't drive worth shit. I told (inaudible) we shouldn't bring 'em along..." When Steele asked "Are you talking to me?" the suspect remained silent.

In police lock-up, when he was read the charges against him, including attempted murder, White, who had already spoken with a lawyer by telephone and was then being taken to the cells, said: "I didn't hit anybody with anything. And I don't even own a shotgun."

The driver, Daniel Jacobson

Jacobson was initially charged with aiding and abetting an armed robbery. He was read his Charter warning and handcuffed while police searched the stolen vehicle.

DJ: "What's this about? I was f**king hijacked by that guy. I am the innocent person here."

VPD: "Is this your vehicle, sir?"

DJ: "It belongs to a friend."

VPD: "So this Cynthia Walters - this person on the registration certificate, she's a friend of yours?"

DJ: "Hey, you got no right to hold me like this. I'm trying to help you guys."

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VPD #2 (from the backseat): "Sarge, there's a gun here. It smells like it has been fired."

DJ: "I don't know nothing about that - that Jimmy guy had it. He pointed it at me. Scared the shit out of me. What was I supposed to do?"

VPD: "Sir, I warn you again. You have the right to remain silent and not say anything to us unril you speak with a lawyer. You will have access to a lawyer at the station."

DJ: "I don't need no lawyer. I did not do anything."

VPD: "So you did not park this car outside Mac's on Hamilton Street? You know nothing about this gun?"

DJ: "I knew nothing about guns or robbery until that guy pointed it at me. And I parked the car while I was having a smoke."

VPD: (to the other officer)"Did you find any cigarettes?"

DJ: "Hey, I ran out of smokes, man. I was car-jacked here - I'm telling you..."

The statements

Police wish to place the above statements into evidence at a trial of the three accused. All three counsel will have separate counsel. You are a paralegal acting with Crown Counsel, Natalie Blomquist.

Ms. Blomquist asks you to review the accused's statements and assess whether there are any problems in admitting them at trial. You are to use the case law we have reviewed for the topic, "Arrest and Detention." If there are problems with entering the statements, explain what the problems are and the likelihood of admission. Cite case authority. If you need more information on a particular point, state what information that might be.

Maximum length 3 pages, or 900 words.