Smash and grab jewelry store robbery caught on camera
Staff at a jewelry store in Place D'Orléans mall have been left shaken after a daring daytime robbery saw thieves run off with a significant amount of gold and diamonds.
- Sign up now for our daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
The entire scene was caught on camera, showing two alleged criminals enter the store shortly after 5 p.m. on Monday, hammering their way through display cases at Doucet Jewelry Store.
The crime left the two employees face-to-face with the alleged vandals, who described the event as scary, unsettling and loud.
While no staff were hurt during the robbery, it was a scary moment for store manager Katherine Janowicz, who was working when the store was robbed.
"Yeah. Loud. Very loud," Janowicz said, recalling the events.
As she continues to clean the shards of glass left from the robbery under her feet, she reflects on the face-to-face interaction she had with one of the thieves' moments ahead of the crime.
"A young man came really kind of suspicious. He wanted to see the most expensive gold chain I had," she said.
Janowicz said she told the man to leave.
"As he was leaving, I turned and there was another young man with his back to us, completely dressed in black mask. I thought, 'Okay, I did the right thing,'" she said.
But soon, the two returned.
"He just said, just show me anything. Then he jumped the counter, grabbed me and said, 'Give me your keys,'" she said.
Janowicz then pushed a panic button before the man let her go, giving her time to get away. She and another employee ran into an office and locked the door. The thieves then began smashing the display cases as surrounding businesses shut their doors.
The Ottawa Police Service is investigating after a daytime robbery in Orleans. (Viewer submission)
"We waited until the smashing stopped. We could hear people out in the hall yelling at them and then we came out. It was a mess. It was very loud," she said.
Staff say the entire event was over in just two minutes.
"Nobody's hurt. That's the main thing. We're going to deal with everybody. We're going to help everybody," said Paul Lacombe, the area supervisor for Doucet.
He says while it's too early to know the cost of the inventory lost, he says it's "considerable" and that police are investigating.
"They came in and took fingerprints, pictures they were here quite a while," Lacombe said.
While the event was disturbing, those who work at the mall say it remains safe.
"It's very family oriented and very quiet, so it's unfortunate," said Diana Kirkwood, who works in the Place D'Orléans mall.
The focus now is on helping police with the investigation, repairing the damage and hopefully reopening in the coming days.
The Ottawa Police said in an email to CTV News the two unknown suspects fled the scene before police arrived and the OPS robbery unit is investigating.
The extensive cleanup continues at Doucet and Janowicz hopes to reopen as early as Wednesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.