A Roadhouse Inn employee who earlier this month chased down a wine thief was sent to the hospital Thursday evening after a robber unloaded a can of bear spray in the offsales building and took off with a fistful of cash.

Whitehorse RCMP reported this morning that an unidentified male entered the Second Avenue business at about 8:30 p.m. and sprayed the male employee in the face with a can of bear spray.

The employee was incapacitated, police said in a press release, and the suspect was able to grab a small amount of cash.

He took off in a purple car with a Yukon licence plate in the back window, according to police reports, possibly a Chevrolet Lumina or Cavalier.

A witness who followed the getaway car through downtown and up Robert Service Way, called police to report the car was headed to Copper Ridge. Officers located the purple car and attempted to stop it at the traffic circle near Elijah Smith Elementary School, but were unsuccessful.

"Due to the high volume of traffic and the danger to the public, a pursuit was not initiated,” police said.

The suspect wore a blue hoodie, a red bandanna over his face, blue gloves, black track pants with two white stripes down the side and new white running shoes. He wielded an orange bear spray canister.

Witnesses reported that a customer was also in the building at the time of the robbery. Though he was affected by the spray, did not need to be taken to Whitehorse General Hospital.

The employee was taken to the hospital and was released later in the evening.

He is the same young man who, during a smoke break, chased down a would-be wine thief last Monday.

The suspect in that robbery attempt has not been found, police said today.