Image: Tom Bevans, used with permission / In this image shared by Tom Bevans, a Walmart employee (right) identified as Phil talks to Jason Robert Fletcher (left), a repeat offender who is accused of reportedly trying to abduct a young girl Wednesday afternoon at the Chilliwack Walmart, 8249 Eagle Landing Parkway. Phil, the Walmart greeter, is being credited with stepping in to stop the attempted abduction by Fletcher, who was reportedly arrested, according to Chilliwack resident Jasmine Croasdale, a department manager at Walmart. Fletcher later stole $257 in merchandise from the Walmart, all of which was recovered by police and returned to Walmart.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Reported abduction attempt at Walmart

Chilliwack Walmart employee steps in to halt reported abduction attempt of young girl Wednesday

Aug 30, 2023 | 10:55 PM

CHILLIWACK — A greeter at the Chilliwack Walmart in Eagle Landing is being credited with stopping a man from a reported abduction attempt that happened Wednesday afternoon (August 30).

According to Chilliwack resident Jasmine Croasdale, who works as a department manager at the Chilliwack Walmart at 8249 Eagle Landing Parkway, a man reportedly identified as Jason Robert Fletcher tried to abduct a young girl, estimated to be approximately eight years old, at about 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fletcher reportedly yelled for an Amber Alert to be activated and said family members accompanying the young girl were not her family.

A Walmart greeter identified only by his first name of Phil intervened and stopped Fletcher from abducting her, Croasdale said. Even then, Fletcher did not relent, she said.

“No, he continued to stalk and attempt to grab her until our greeter pushed him away,” Croasdale said. “Then, he continued to stand four feet away and watch the grandma and the granddaughter.”

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Croasdale says Fletcher fled the store when RCMP arrived on scene, but returned later on when he came back into Walmart and stole $257 worth of merchandise.

“He came back, stole clothes and then changed,” Croasdale said. “Then, we had him arrested.”

Police were able to reportedly recover and return all the stolen merchandise to Walmart, Croasdale said.

Fletcher was reportedly scoping out the Chilliwack Walmart location two nights ago, Croasdale says, prior to Wednesday’s bizarre sequence of events. He exhibited erratic behaviour by telling Walmart staff that they had explosives in their store.

“He came to the store [Wednesday] around 3:30 p.m. saying we had explosives in our seasonal area and that he had to get in there,” Croasdale said. “And then, the incident with the little girl happened, which we weren’t even aware of when we went to tell him to leave as he was sitting on the side of our building peeling off our fire exit signs.”

On top of that, according to one witness, Fletcher reportedly removed a manhole cover in the Walmart parking lot with a six-foot metal pole. Constables questioned Fletcher behind the nearby Tim Hortons.

Fletcher was taken into custody shortly after 6:30 p.m., Croasdale says.

The mother of the victim has shared a statement with police. Fletcher could still be free sometime overnight if a judge opts to release him.

“He’s clearly a danger to people,” Croasdale said.

Jason Robert Fletcher was previously charged with driving a motor vehicle without care and failing to remain at the scene of an accident, breach of probation, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and a litany of other charges.

He was convicted of possession of stolen property over $5,000 in Prince George in 2015. He was issued a conditional sentence of two years less a day and one year of probation.

The case number for Wednesday’s incident is Chilliwack RCMP file number 23-36168.