Five suspects arrested after armed robbery at Cambridge Centre mall

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Arrests made in Cambridge jewelry store attempted robbery

Police investigating two separate mall robberies in Waterloo Region

Five suspects were arrested Monday night for an attempted jewelry store robbery at the Cambridge Centre.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service said mall security reported a stolen vehicle linked to an earlier robbery was spotted around 5:20 p.m.

Officers confronted five suspects who were carrying duffle bags and allegedly armed with handguns and sledgehammers as they were robbing an unnamed jewelry store.

“Officers were quick to react,” said Const. Chris Iden. “As a result, we were able to arrest them all for robbery-related charges, as well as weapons-related charges. We did seize two loaded firearms as a result of this investigation as well.”

Police believe the group was also connected to four other robberies and gun-related incidents in the Waterloo Region and other jurisdictions on Monday. They told CTV News the suspects first robbed a large Canadian retailer near Pinebush Road and Hespeler Road but, after struggling with a loss prevention officer, they fled the area with an unspecified amount of merchandise. Police said the suspects then drove to Conestoga Mall in Waterloo. This time, it was mall security who intervened.

After the first two incidents, the group headed to the Cambridge Centre.

Ryan O’Hare and his three-year-old daughter were at the mall getting smoothies when he heard a commotion.

“I looked over at the store… and I saw some guy chopping at the glass windows,” he told CTV News, adding that officers arrived just minutes later. “There was a police [officer] that came in and his gun was fully drawn. [I] grabbed my daughter and we kind of stepped back a bit.”

O’Hare witnessed officers grab one of the suspects as he was trying to run out of the mall, while the other suspects fled towards the movie theatre.

Five suspects were taken into police custody.

“At the time of locating the individuals with the firearms, they were loaded with ammunition and could have been used,” Const. Iden said.

A 22-year-old man, a 19-year-old man, a 17-year-old boy and two 15-year-old boys were arrested and charged with robbery with a firearm. Police said all five were from Toronto.

“We are looking to see if there’s any other involvement with other matters as well,” Const. Iden said.

Last Thursday, there was a similar smash-and-grab at Paris Jewellers in Stratford. CTV News reached out to Stratford Police to see if there was a connection to the Waterloo and Cambridge incidents. They would only say the Paris Jewellers robbery was still under investigation.

“Five robberies in one day by five suspects is pretty heavy-duty stuff,” said Chris Lewis, a former OPP Commissioner and public safety analyst for CTV News. “Particularly when we learned they were armed with handguns.”

The weapons could be a big issue if the suspects are eventually found guilty of the charges.

“These guys just didn’t go running in with baby rattles and hope to break some glass and a case. They had guns,” Lewis said. “So, they’re either prepared to use them against people they are robbing, or against people that try to interfere, or against the police. Thankfully that didn’t occur, but it really ups the ante in terms of sentencing.”

Lewis praised the efforts by security and loss prevention officers to stop the suspects.

“There’s been a lot of public criticism because security guards haven’t jumped up and said, ‘Halt, in the name of the law,’ when some of these very potentially violent robberies have occurred. They don’t get paid enough to do that, but they are there to observe, make notes, notify the police of what they see. And in this case, that worked. So good for them.”