It didn’t work with the first victim, but it did with the second.

A man was approached by another male in the parking lot of the Vernon Wholesale Club just after 5 p.m. Friday. The suspect pointed a gun at the man and demanded his car keys.

Gord Molendyk of the Vernon RCMP says the victim realized the gun was a toy and refused to hand over his keys.

“The suspect ran away. A few minutes later, in the same parking lot, he pulled his fake gun on a woman and said to give him her car keys or he‘d kill her. She gave him her car keys and he drove off,” says Molendyk.

He says minutes later, the suspect traded the car for drugs.

“A short time later, police spotted the stolen vehicle on 25th Avenue. The driver eluded police for a few blocks but was arrested on 39th Avenue. The driver tried to convince police that the car wasn’t stolen, that it was just given to him.”

Molendyk says the driver was arrested and is facing charges of possession of stolen property.

“He was able to give police a description of the man who robbed the woman and he was arrested a short time later. A 38-year-old man of no fixed address faces charges of robbery.”

He says the driver of the stolen car is considered one of the Okanagan’s most prolific offenders, with outstanding warrants from several areas. The driver had been out of jail for just two weeks before being arrested.