The London Free Press
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Page A1, Section: News
Byline: By Kate Dubinski, Free Press Reporter

London police warned jewellery stores yesterday to be on the lookout for a traveling band of highly organized thieves who distract clerks and make off with gems worth tens of thousands of dollars. The group of six to eight people, including men, women as old as 75 and children as young as infants, has hit at least one store in London , as well as many others all over the province and in Quebec .

“We have identified a group of 30 core people…but once these individuals are arrested, more emerge,” London Det. Steve Stokan said yesterday. “I would describe them as a large group of organized, professional thieves…of eastern European descent.”

London officers are working with police forces across the province to co-ordinate their efforts, Stokan said. The group's members could have originated from any number of former eastern bloc countries such as Romania or Hungary , where groups of organized thieves are known to swarm tourists and pick their pockets.

Just last week, Toronto police arrested eight people—including a 15 year old girl—from Montreal in connection with similar jewellery store robberies. “We believe they pre-scout their locations to see how many people they will need to pull it off.” Stoken said.

On May 14, the thieves made off with about $10,000 in gold from a jewellery store in Gibraltar Trade Centre, a weekend market on Dundas Street East in London . “Basically, they grab anything of opportunity. It doesn't have to be jewellery. They've taken rings, briefcases, display (jewellery),” Stokan said. The Gibraltar Trade Centre vendor who was robbed, but didn't want his name used, last night recalled one of the men in the group said he wanted to buy a diamond ring. By the time the vendor realized something was wrong, a briefcase filled with jewels was gone, and so was the group.

Similar thefts have happened in this region in Woodstock , Chatham-Kent and Stratford . But they're linked to crimes in Halton, Peel, Pembroke, Cambridge , Waterloo , Lindsay, Perth , Ottawa , York-Region and Port Hope. A similar group was active in London last year, Stokan said. They walked in large groups into camera stores, where the men would chat up store employees about products while the women would slip expensive equipment under long flowing skirts. A similar crime happened in Listowel in mid-July, when five people distracted employees at the front of Gemini Jewellery Store on Main Street while one slipped to the back and took trays with rings worth $33,000 from an unlocked vault. They were described as being of East Indian descent.

“There's nothing you can really do. We've done everything you can.” Said Jan Moir, who operates a jewellery store in the Gibraltar Trade Centre. Her store was robbed in a similar manner in November, but Stokan said it's not linked to the group operating around the province. “They came, around four or five of them, got everyone busy, talking to us, and they grabbed a big tree of 72 men's rings with diamonds on them,” Moir said. “I didn't even know they took it until later.”

Police advise store owners to always lock their display cases, and to keep an eye out for anyone who looks suspicious. “A store owner can refuse to sell to someone, and if someone does look suspicious, they should ask for photo ID. If something's not right, call us.” Stokan said.