Jewelry store owners call for 'serious action' amid rise in robberies in Peel Region

Jewelry store owner Shahrouz Ahmed was sitting and working on a laptop near the front of his Mississauga, Ont., store on Tuesday evening, when thieves in a grey Jeep tried to smash their way inside. 

The vehicle rammed the exterior windows and metal cage reinforcements at Jannat Jewellers at least three times. The Jeep approached the store at an angle to avoid metal security posts out front, he said.

Thieves tried to burst through the door but fled once the store filled with white smoke — a security measure that Ahmed put in place to foil robbers. The security smoke, once released, creates a fog in the room, blurring everything from view.

"My back was leaning towards that wall, to be very honest," Ahmed said. "The car hit us so badly that everything moved forward."

A female customer was just leaving when the vehicle hit the store, breaking glass. Two other employees were in the store at the time helping the customer. Three people were in the Jeep and two from another car were outside. No one was injured.

After the foiled robbery, Ahmed and other jewelry store owners are speaking out, saying laws need to be tougher, penalties for criminals need to be harsher and police need to do more. They also said store owners need to fight back — something police don't advise.

Peel police say there were 41 jewelry store robberies last year, an increase from 10 in 2023.

Const. Tyler Bell, spokesperson for Peel Regional Police, said police are concerned about the rise in jewelry store robberies and that many arrests are made after the fact, sometimes months later. 

"Many of the people that we arrest are folks that are already on release for prior offences. So they're not seeing the deterrent that we're hoping for from the judicial system. And so, they're going out and they're putting themselves in those positions again," Bell said.

Bell said police have several theories on what's happening to the stolen jewelry, including that it may be sold locally or melted down and resold by bad players in the industry.

Meanwhile, Ahmed says store owners are left unable to protect their property.

"I don't know how we are going to survive in this country. All the jewelry stores will close one day."

"We are not safe in Canada at all.... Just because of some stupid laws, we are not free to do business....The main reason for this crime happening again and again is the leniency of the government and the leniency of the laws and the stupid laws, which are protecting them but not us."

Ahmed said next time: "I will die but I won't let them go."