Six masked males stormed a jewelry store in Toronto’s Fairview Mall on Dec. 16 and drove off with a “large quantity of jewelry,” Toronto police say.
Officers responded to the daylight heist at approximately 1:16 p.m., after the individuals used hammers to break into the store and smash open display cabinets to access the jewelry.
“All suspects were wearing masks and gloves to disguise their identity,” police said in a release.
The officers released security images showing the suspects wielding tools outside on the glass doors and inside on the cabinets.
Exiting the shopping mall with the cache, the masked suspects got into a waiting vehicle but were involved in a collision as they drove off. They fled the crashed car and hopped into a second escape vehicle.
One of the suspects was apprehended after the botched exit.
“The driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries,” police said, adding that the second getaway vehicle “fled the area and has since been located with the assistance of the York Regional Police Service.”
The smash-and-grab follows on the heels of several other jewelry store heists across the Greater Toronto area this month.
On Dec. 5, a vehicle rammed into the storefront of a jewelry store in Hamilton, where suspects pointed a gun at the owner and smashed display cases. Four suspects were charged in the incident while the store owner was injured and taken to the hospital.
A day earlier, a robbery occurred at Lukfook Jewellery in Markville Shopping Centre, where 6 suspects were arrested. On Dec. 2, a Peoples Jewellers at Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill was struck by suspects who used hammers to break glass cabinets and steal items. Police are on the lookout for five suspects.
