Smash and grab robbery at Stone Road Mall

Guelph Police are looking for as many as six suspects after a jewelry store was robbed at Stone Road Mall on Friday.

The incident happened around 5:30 p.m.

Police said multiple people armed with hammers stole an unspecified amount of jewelry.

A noxious substance, believed to be bear spray, was also used.

Police said a couple of people in the mall were taken to hospital with respiratory issues.

The suspects fled the mall before officers arrived.

Police did not have suspect or vehicle descriptions as of 9 p.m.

An employee, who did not want to be identified, working at Charm Diamond Centres confirmed with CTV News on Saturday that it was their store that was robbed.

Yellow caution tape and remnants of broken glass could be seen surrounding the store Saturday morning.

The employee said there is no estimated cost in damages or amount of what was taken at this time. They said they are aiming to reopen the store late next week.

The investigation remains ongoing. Guelph Police said they anticipate more information will be shared early next week.

‘Very brazen and they’re quick’

CTV’s Public Safety Analyst Chris Lewis says there is a growing trends of brazen jewelry store robberies in malls across the country.

“These are cases [that are] very brazen and they’re quick,” Lewis told CTV News. “They can be gone within seconds. So unless there’s a police car right in the area, it’s very difficult for police to respond in time before they actually make their getaway.”

Lewis noted the use of a noxious substance, in this case what is believed to be bear spray, is fairly new.

“I haven’t seen that recently. That ups the ante a bit because that becomes a robbery with violence.”

Lewis noted that many of these robberies involve well-planned operations.

“I think police are really leaning towards the fact that these groups are controlled by organized crime groups. They may be local or somewhere from 50 or 100 miles away. They do it but they’re low-level criminals. Often younger, even young persons that ultimately can’t really be punished much under legislation. People coming with masks and gloves and hammers and doing what they’re doing. That’s not people just trying to pay their bills, these are criminals and they’re doing it for profit and they’re doing it for others. Ultimately, they get paid for doing it.”

Lewis said these groups often exploit weaknesses in mall security protocols.

“You can just openly walk off the hallway in the mall and you’re in the jewelry store, have access to a cabinet; that makes it very easy for them to quickly act,” he said. “The standalone jewelry stores that are kind of outside of malls, they can have control access. They can have glass on their cabinets and glass on their doors and windows that are difficult to penetrate.”

Lewis said product and cabinet placement should be considered when it comes to preventing robberies at jewelry stores.

“Generally speaking, the stores want their displays close to the front, especially in the mall. So people can see them and be tempted to come in. But that makes it easier for the bad guys to do what they do. You just can smash with a hammer quickly...but if they use a certain type of glass, it can be very, very difficult to smash. That changes everything. But there’s a cost to that...somebody has to pay to have that happen, but that’s one of the only alternatives they’re going to have.”