NEWS RELEASE
NIAGARA REGIONAL POLICE SERVICE
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On Thursday, at approximately 1:10 p.m. members of Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) 1 District (St. Catharines/Thorold) uniform patrol responded to Pen Centre located at 221 Glendale Ave. in the City of St. Catharines for a robbery that had just occurred.
Initial investigation determined that five suspects entered Griffin Jewellery, where they used a small sledgehammer to smash several display cases. The suspects proceeded to remove jewellery from the cases and place it into bags they were carrying.
A small number of witnesses attempted to intervene which prompted the suspects to flee the area with a small number of witnesses in pursuit. One witness collided with a mall column and two other witnesses were sprayed with an irritant similar to pepper spray. The witness who collided with the mall column was transported to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The witnesses sprayed with the irritant were treated on scene. The suspects are described as follows:
Suspect #1
- White hooded sweatshirt
- Black pants
- Black shoes
Suspect #2
- Black hooded sweatshirt with white lettering across it
- Forest green pants
- White shoes
- Blue face mask
Suspect #3
- Black hooded sweatshirt
- Black pants
- Black shoes
- Black duffel bag
- Blue face mask
Suspect #4
- Black hooded sweatshirt
- Black pants
- White shoes
- Black duffel bag
- White facemask
Suspect #5
- Black hooded sweatshirt
- Black pants
- White shoes
- Green bag
The suspects exited the Pen Centre through an east exit into a vehicle. The vehicle is described as follows:
- Silver in colour
- Honda CRV
- Ontario License Plate BFZV 946
The license plate on the Honda was determined to be registered to a different vehicle. The vehicle was last seen driving toward Chestnut Street West.
The investigation has been assigned to the 1 District Criminal Investigation Branch. Detectives are asking any witnesses, or anyone with video footage to contact them at 905-688-4111, dial option 3, extension 1009703.
Members of the public who wish to provide information anonymously can contact Crime Stoppers of Niagara online or by calling 1-800-222-8477. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to persons who contact the program with information which leads to an arrest.
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