P.E.I. robbery suspect facing multiple charges in 2 courts

A Charlottetown man has been charged with two robberies and several other charges by multiple Island police agencies.

Michael William Hollinger, 26, appeared in court Thursday morning in Summerside and Thursday afternoon in Charlottetown.

He was arrested late Wednesday afternoon in Kensington on multiple charges. RCMP said Charlottetown, Kensington and Summerside police as well as Queens and East Prince RCMP, and an RCMP dog team were all involved in arresting Hollinger and no one was injured during the arrest.

Late Thursday afternoon, Hollinger was charged in provincial court in Charlottetown with armed robbery, for stealing from a woman using an ATM in Charlottetown on June 9.

Police allege he was armed with a knife and masking his face at the time. He's also charged with unlawfully confining the woman and stealing her car the same day.

He's also charged with robbing the North River Quick Mart in Cornwall Tuesday afternoon.

The owners of that store, Shirley Wu and her husband Leo Gu, say they were alone in their store at the time of the robbery.

Wu, who is originally from China, said she didn't understand what the robber meant when he told her to open the cash register. She said he grabbed a few packages of cigarettes and left in a hurry.

She chased after him, but was unable to stop him. The incident was captured on the store's surveillance camera.

Customers heard about the robbery and were dropping into the store Thursday to check on the couple and give them flowers and hugs. "I was afraid to death they might have got hurt," said Wanda MacFadyen. "Everybody loves Leo and Shirley around here."

During his Thursday morning court appearance in Summerside, Hollinger was charged by RCMP with possession of stolen property — a 2006 Dodge Caravan — in Indian River on June 12.

He's also charged with stealing gasoline from the Irving gas station in New Annan on Feb. 6.

More P.E.I. news