In the parking lot of an east-end Toronto apartment building, a detective in plain clothes and a bullet-proof vest empties a bag of potential evidence he and other officers seized moments before from a main-floor unit.
Wrapped in plastic bags are hammers, a replica handgun, a diamond ring in a Peoples Jewellers box, a balaclava, jewelry display boxes and pieces of broken glass police believe could have come from jewelry display cases smashed during a series of 11 robberies and attempted robberies in June and early July.
“It’s disturbing that it seems every time we make an arrest or an occurrence happens, another one seems to follow it,” said Det. Sgt. Ryan Boulay, who leads York Regional Police’s (YRP) holdup unit. York Region is an area north of Toronto that includes Richmond Hill and Markham.
“And that’s not just strictly the York Region. We’re seeing that across the Greater Toronto Area.”
Watch the full documentary, “Smash & Grab,” from the fifth estate on YouTube or CBC-TV on Friday at 9 p.m.
Viral security camera and cellphone videos taken in the last two years show groups of masked robbers who appear to be young males wearing dark clothing, entering jewelry stores in malls and streetfront shops. They are brazenly using hammers to smash glass, filling bags with jewelry and running off to getaway vehicles before police arrive.
CBC’s the fifth estate compiled a list of these types of incidents in Ontario from police media releases, police statistics and media reports. We found there have been at least 60 incidents in the province just this year.
Our investigation also reveals a growing number of minors are being recruited by adults to carry out the crimes and told if they are caught, as youths, they would face little or no time in custody.
Police units the fifth estate spoke to say the number of youths involved in smash and grab robberies is unprecedented.
WATCH | Police find a mound of potential evidence they believe is linked to robberies:
Police find a mound of potential evidence they believe is linked to robberies
Detectives from York Regional Police’s hold-up unit recovered potential evidence, including hammers, jewelry and broken glass they believe is linked to a series of smash and grab robberies.
The fifth estate was granted access for a week in July to YRP’s holdup unit to witness first-hand how police are tackling the problem. The unit investigates violent robberies in York Region and works closely on smash-and-grab cases with other police units in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The day police discovered that mound of potential evidence after executing a search warrant in the east-end Toronto apartment, they found an even bigger surprise.
Inside what police call a “flophouse” was a 19-year-old man who they believe was connected to that series of 11 jewelry store robberies they’d been investigating for weeks. He was arrested and charged with offences related to stolen jewelry, vehicles and a home invasion.
“It’s a great lead for our case. Not in every case do you recover amounts of stolen property,” said Boulay.
“Where it was going to go from here, I don’t know, but it’s certainly giving us that in-between point that we’re always looking for.”
Investigators from York Regional Police and neighbouring Peel Regional Police, which covers Brampton and Mississauga, say what’s different about these heists is it appears minors are being recruited by adults to commit the crimes to take advantage of the bail system and laws that offer lesser punishment for youth convicted of crimes.
“You’ve got very young [people] committing very violent crimes,” said Peel Regional Police Insp. Sean Brennan. “It’s kind of a new gamechanger for us.”
“We need deterrents.”
Jewellers on high alert
Jewelry store operators say a lack of deterrents has rattled owners and customers.
Jerry Sorani is locking the doors to his store Jewellery Forever during business hours for the first time in the 17 years he’s been in the CF Markville Mall store in Markham.
The store has been targeted by masked intruders three times in less than a year.
Fed up after seeing a group of approximately 10 individuals attacking Lukfook Jewellery, a jewelry store in the same mall, last December, Sorani posted surveillance footage captured two months earlier of himself armed with a broomstick fighting off three males who were smashing his display case. It went viral.
“I think it brought a lot of people to realize: ‘Oh, it’s not just only one or two locations, it’s happening almost everywhere,’” Sorani said.
In fact, the third incident at his store is one of the 11 in the series being investigated by York Regional Police.
While Sorani and his colleague managed to chase away the suspects before they could grab anything in all three incidents, the risks have caused their insurance premiums to rise. The locked doors aren’t helping business either.
WATCH | Security expert talks about how jewellers can protect against violent robbery:
Security expert talks about how jewellers can protect against violent robbery
Scott Hayes, a former RCMP officer and security adviser for Jewelry Vigilance Canada, explains to the fifth estate host Ioanna Roumeliotis how jewellers can minimize chances of being robbed.
Beyond Jewellery Forever, few owners and staff of jewelry stores in the GTA that have been attacked would agree to an interview with the fifth estate about their experiences and what’s happening in the industry, out of what many described as fear of retribution and spooking customers.
In many cases, larger chain stores with open entries in malls are targeted, including Peoples Jewellers and Michael Hill. Neither responded to the fifth estate’s email requests for interviews.
“Jewelry store robberies aren’t new, but what I think is new in the last couple of years is how violent and brazen it’s becoming,” said Scott Hayes, a former RCMP investigator who works as a security adviser for Jewellers Vigilance Canada, the arm of the Canadian Jewellers Association that works to prevent crime in the industry.
Hayes said police have a hard time keeping up with the suspects because they move so quickly. Tracing stolen merchandise is also a challenge, he said, because it’s not clear who exactly is buying the stolen jewelry or melting down the gold.
“It gets put into other jewelry and then resold so most of this jewelry ends up back on the legitimate market.”
Loosely organized crime groups recruiting youth: police
Two weeks after York police’s investigation led to the arrest in Toronto’s east end, Peel Regional Police announced Project Night Train, which it says took down two criminal networks responsible for violent jewelry store robberies, home invasions and carjackings in the GTA.
Peel Regional Police meet to discuss recent robberies. They say at least six of the 13 suspects in a recent series of jewelry store robberies and home invasions are minors, some of whom were recruited by adults. (Saeed Dehghani/CBC)
Police say the project focused on 17 violent incidents, which occurred from mid to late 2024, involving stolen property, including luxury vehicles, jewelry, designer bags and clothing, valued at $2 million.
Thirteen individuals were charged, six of whom were minors at the time of their arrests, including a 15-year-old.
“We’re seeing the same players again and again and you’re seeing people revictimized or new victims,” said Brennan.
His Peel Regional Police unit released video of a bold robbery at Karolbagh Jewellers in Brampton that lasted just one minute and 12 seconds. In that video, at least eight people hastily climb through smashed windows in broad daylight in front of onlookers.
“We’ve never seen the prevalence of young persons committing crimes at these levels, ever. It’s disturbing,” said Brennan, adding that on average over the past three years, 40 per cent of the cases his unit handled, including jewelry store robberies, involved minors.
Det. Justin Shoniker, who led the Project Night Train investigation, said it appears young people who may be at risk are approached in person and then connect via social media.
WATCH | Police break down challenges of identifying smash-and-grab suspects:
Police break down challenges of identifying smash-and-grab suspects
Peel Regional Police Det. Justin Shoniker describes one of the most brazen smash-and-grab cases he investigated and says the suspects often don’t even know each other.
There doesn’t appear to be one mastermind, he said. Instead, there are loosely organized networks of individuals planning the crimes, usually on group chats.
“They call it a mission. They’ll organize a spot to meet. So in essence these people, the offenders getting together, may have never met each other before,” said Shoniker.
Son promised $2,000 for job, mother says
The fifth estate spoke to a mother whose 16-year-old son is charged in several jewelry store robberies in the GTA and other parts of Ontario.
“The police told me that there is a group of adults that were recruiting them,” she said.
She cannot be identified to protect her son’s identity under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
“He said that he was approached by somebody who told him that he wanted to see young teens make money and flourish. And he was like, ‘This guy just wants us to, he wants to see us do better because you know there’s not a lot of options for us.’
“I told him that it sounded very predatory.”
She said her son was promised at least $2,000 and told that it’s a victimless crime because the jewelry stores have insurance.
Money, freedom, the ability to buy new clothes and impress others are all part of the appeal, she said.
Multi-pronged crimes
The overall crime rate in Canada has been fairly stable for the last decade. But the rate of violent crime has been inching up.
In York Region alone, the number of jewelry store robberies doubled last year and is set to surpass that total by the end of 2025 — a trend that has been noted across the Greater Toronto Area.
According to Toronto Police Services, the number of jewelry store robberies climbed from 10 in 2020 to 48 last year. Toronto police report there have been 27 to date this year.
While the youth crime rate had been trending downwards for the last two decades, according to Statistics Canada, from 2022 to 2023, the rate of youth crime for most offences went up, with a 10 per cent increase in violent crimes during that time.
Police say a pattern has emerged when it comes to these kinds of smash-and-grab robberies. They aren’t happening in isolation — in many cases they are related to home invasions and vehicle thefts.
“They’re looking to fund lifestyles and advance further criminality…. So it’s profit-driven. And there’s large money available with the auto theft equation that we know that is complex and many layers to that as well,” said Brennan.
“Home invasions, unfortunately, are part of that — with the vehicles — and something new that we’ve seen.”
WATCH | A woman calls 911 for help during a home invasion:
A woman calls 911 for help during a home invasion
Two sisters, 25 and 14, woke to intruders who stormed into their home and held them at gunpoint while demanding the keys to the family’s luxury SUV.
YRP say the series of 11 jewelry store robberies it was investigating also involved three home invasions — one in Markham and two in Toronto.
“It’s almost like a big spider web,” said Boulay.
Home invasions are on the rise in York Region and have become more violent, including a recent case in Vaughan when a father of four was killed while his family was present.
Police noted that due to the intimacy of the crime, they can be some of the most terrifying kinds of robberies.
In September 2024, three masked individuals broke through the back door of another family’s home in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, around 1:30 a.m.
I don’t think I can describe it in any way how scared I felt.- 25-year-old woman at home when intruders broke into their house
The case is not related to the series of incidents the fifth estate was tracking but was handled by YRP’S hold-up unit.
“There’s people robbing our house right now … they have guns and they took the car keys, please,” an anxious voice pleaded to a 911 dispatcher as her sister’s screams in the background drowned out her voice.
The fifth estate obtained the 911 call through a freedom of information request.
The 25-year-old 911 caller and her 14-year-old sister, whose identities we are not disclosing to protect their safety, were in bed. Their parents were out for the night.
Parked in the driveway was the family’s 2023 red Lamborghini Urus. The sisters say three males demanded the car keys and when they told them they didn’t know where they were, held them at gunpoint.
An Ontario family was held at gunpoint while masked intruders demanded the keys to their luxury SUV parked in their driveway. (Submitted by name withheld)
“I don’t think I can describe it in any way how scared I felt, how terrified I was,” said the older sister, who had called her parents, but the line dropped when one of the intruders snatched her phone.
Sensing something was wrong, their parents rushed home, but by that time the vehicle was gone and police had arrived.
“We are still struggling. This trauma will stay with them forever, and us as well,” said their mother.
What the thieves didn’t know was the family had hidden an airtag in the vehicle. Police were able to track the vehicle and arrest two of the three suspects.
After masked intruders stormed into their home demanding the keys to their luxury SUV, a family has installed more security measures, including rolling aluminum shutters on their doors and windows. (Ousama Farag/CBC)
A 19-year-old man and 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to armed robbery. The adult also pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm and police say the vehicle they arrived in is linked to another home invasion.
Politicians, police call for bail reform
The surge in violent crime has fuelled a rising call for tougher laws from business owners, police and lawmakers.
“I think people are terrified right now,” Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said of the spike in violent robberies.
Brown, who said public safety is the top concern he hears from constituents, pointed to what he calls a “revolving door” of suspects entering the criminal justice system, only to get out on bail and reoffend.
Many of those breaching prior release conditions, according to Peel police, are young people who face charges related to robberies and home invasions.
Brown said rehabilitative services should be offered to youth in custody, although that would require funding from all levels of government.
“The goal is when someone leaves that facility, they’re going to be able to not fall prey to the same criminality that they were vulnerable for in the first place.”
WATCH | Brampton mayor says tougher laws needed to combat a ‘revolving door’ of offenders:
Brampton mayor says tougher laws needed to combat a ‘revolving door’ of offenders
Patrick Brown calls for a crackdown on repeat and violent offenders – including minors recruited to commit violent robberies.
Rising calls for tougher laws led the federal government to announce a sweeping bail reform bill last month. If passed, the bill would toughen sentencing and make bail harder to get, especially for violent and repeat offenders.
A key feature would be a reverse onus provision where repeat and violent offenders would have to prove why they should be granted bail instead of the current system where the onus is on prosecutors to prove why they shouldn’t.
Invest in youth, prevention: Mississauga organization
Critics of the “tough on crime” approach say bail reform is the wrong thing to focus on.
“We need to be investing in our youth and investing in the youth’s future,” said Karla Bailey, executive director of My Neighbourhood Services (MNS), which runs youth programs out of a community hub in Mississauga.
“We all know prevention is so much better than cure,” said Bailey.
Her organization offers programming that supports 14,000 youth a year, including free lunches, mental health support, employment skills and a youth justice reintegration program.
The mother of the 16-year-old boy accused of taking part in multiple jewelry store robberies said more community support is always welcome.
WATCH | Mother of alleged smash-and-grab suspect says adults recruited her teen son:
Mother of alleged smash-and-grab suspect says adults recruited her teen son
The mother of a 16-year-old accused of taking part in multiple smash-and-grab robberies in Ontario says her son was baited by the promise of thousands of dollars and told he would get off easy. We are not disclosing who she is because her son’s identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
She says she has made the difficult decision to not bail her son out of a juvenile detention centre, in part because “he is safer there.”
If he got out, she worries “he would learn outside with the same group of people that he got arrested with.”
She calls adults preying on children for financial gain “sickening” and hopes tougher laws will stop them from recruiting minors.
“I do hope bail reform helps,” she said, “because until there’s somebody able to kind of push back at the people telling them: ‘If you do it, you get to go home to your mom,’ I don’t think adults are going to stop using kids.”
