New tactics are being used to thwart jewelery store robberies in response to the recent rise in incidents, including two attempts at Conestoga Mall in Waterloo within a 48-hour period.
Waterloo Regional Police said both attempted robberies were unsuccessful thanks to the quick thinking of security guards.
“Definitely a relief that they weren’t able to be successful in their attempt,” said Cst. Melissa Quarrie with the Waterloo Regional Police Service, adding that “security has been increased by certain stores and by malls.”
Scott Hayes, a security advisor with Jewellers Vigilance Canada, said hiring security guards is a good idea.
“Creating time and distance helps prevent the robbery now from the get go. If you can get that shop closed in that short amount of time before thieves can get from the mall entrance to the store, obviously prevents it from happening because they’re not going to try to beat down the door,” he said.
The group believes every jeweller knows their store is a target and they are working together to try to protect themselves.
“You can get glass that is very difficult, if not impossible, to smash through,” said Hayes. “The other thing that’s kind of coming on the scene in the Canadian market, although it’s been in other jurisdictions for a while, is security fog where fog fills up the whole store and the criminals can’t see what they are grabbing.”
Previous incidents
The most recent incident happened just before 2 p.m. on Monday.
Police said six males were headed towards a jewelry store but, when a security guard shouted at workers to close the gates, they took off.
Police said another security guard then pursued and saw them leaving the parking lot in a silver SUV.
The suspects are described as:
Suspect #1: Male, wearing black clothes and white shoes.
Suspect #2: Male, wearing a light grey hoodie, dark grey pants, black shoes, a white face mask and carrying a duffle bag.
Suspect #3: White male, wearing a light grey Adidas hoodie, black pants, black shoes, a black face mask and white gloves.
Suspect #4: Male, wearing black clothing, white shoes and carrying a black duffle bag.
Suspect #5: Black male, wearing a dark grey hoodie, black pants, white socks, black and white shoes, white gloves and a white face mask.
Suspect #6: Black male, wearing black clothes, white shoes and white gloves.
Weekend attempt
There was a similar attempt on Saturday, at around 6 p.m., where six males tried to rob a jewelery store but fled when a store security guard intervened.
Police said their car, a grey Honda Civic, had been stolen from Toronto earlier that day. It was later found abandoned outside Waterloo Region.
The suspects in Saturday’s attempted robbery were described as:
Suspect #1: Male, wearing a black hoodie, black jogging pants, black face mask, white shoes and white gloves.
Suspect #2: White male, wearing a grey Adidas hoodie, black pants, black face mask and black shoes. This suspect was the driver of the stolen Civic.
Suspect #3: Male, wearing a grey hoodie, black jogging pants, black mask, white shoes and black gloves.
Suspect #4: Male, wearing black clothing.
Suspect #5: Male, wearing a black jacket with a white fur hood, black pants and black shoes.
Suspect #6: Male, wearing a black hoodie, black jogging pants, black face mask, white shoes and white gloves.
Police have not commented on any possible links between the two attempted robbery investigations.
