The owner of a Scarborough jewelry store that has been targeted for robberies twice in two months says her children were “terrified” when a group of suspects backed into their business with a pickup truck on Thursday night in a shocking incident captured on video.
It happened at a jewelry store in the area of Morningside and Sheppard avenues at around 6:30 p.m., just as the owners were about to close up for the night.
“We had a customer… We were talking about rings and all of sudden we heard a big noise,” the owner told CTV News Toronto on Friday.
“We see them trying to break into our store with a pickup.”
She said she, her husband, and their children all ran into the back of the store and exited the building through the rear.
“My husband, me, we all freaked out. The kids and the customers were all scared,” she said.
Video footage from the scene, which was obtained by CTV News Toronto, shows a group of suspects in a pickup truck backing into the store, shattering glass and damaging the front of the structure.
The owner asked that their name not be used due to safety concerns.
She told CP24 that it appears five suspects were involved in the incident and they attempted to back into the store twice before fleeing the scene empty-handed.
“What is sad is we are custom-made jewelry. We don’t even keep stock,” the owner said.
A spokesperson for Toronto police confirmed that the investigation is active and ongoing but did not say whether any arrests had been made. No injuries were reported.
“It is very frustrating as a business to operate because this is not the first time it has happened,” the owner said.
“This has happened to us just eight weeks ago. This is unacceptable, honestly, to run a business and to have to, daily, worry about if someone is going to drive in.”
She said she does not know how they will continue to operate without additional security measures in place.
The owner noted that they opened the business nearly a year ago and are leasing the space. She said she unsuccessfully appealed to the property manager to consider installing concrete boulders in front of the store to prevent these type of incidents from happening.
“Without boulders, we can’t operate. How are we going to operate,” she asked.
“This is terrifying for my kids… We have to live in constant fear.”
