Police are searching for a group of jewelry thieves who broke into a store in a brazen incident outside Montreal on Sunday night, smashing a vehicle through the front window.
A shocking video shared with Global News by the owners of Famous Jewelers on Rue De Liege captured the moment a vehicle reversed into their store at high speed, with several suspects jumping out, apparently armed, and running towards their display cases.
Security footage shows the front of the store flying inward, while the taillights of a large SUV can be seen. The owner runs toward the vehicle screaming as at least three masked figures enter the damaged store.
One of the figures is wielding what appears to be a large hammer, while the owner attempts to fight the other two. Another of the suspects also appears to have a gun in his hand and, finally, one of the thieves approaches the glass display cases and manages to break some of them.
The video ends with the suspects appearing to leave, at least temporarily, and the front of the store in ruins.
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Police confirmed to Global News that they were called to the store on Rue De Liege at around 6.30pm on Sunday.
Officers confirmed that a van was deliberately driven through the window of Famous Jewelery and stole items from the store before fleeing the scene.
Police said a 27-year-old store employee was injured and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No arrests have yet been made in the investigation.
The robbery is the latest in a series of jewelry store robberies across the country, particularly in eastern Canada and Ontario.
In the Greater Toronto Area, for example, several police forces have reported a year-over-year increase in robbery cases in which thieves break into stores, smash display cases, and make off with whatever they can.
In Peel Region, police say they have seen 37 jewelry store robberies so far this year, more than triple the number in 2023, when there were 10, and in 2022, when 13 occurred.
It’s a similar story in Toronto, where there has been a 105 per cent increase in the number of violent robberies in 2024, compared to all of 2023.
– with files from Kevin Nielson of Global News
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
