RCMP officers from Burnaby were ready to swoop into action when eight suspects they were tailing tried to pull of a jewellery heist at Park Royal Thursday night.
Photograph by: File photo , North Shore News
IN an incident that conjures images of Quentin Tarnantino’s Reservoir Dogs, a small army of suspects are in police custody after a botched heist at Park Royal.
Burnaby RCMP’s strike force unit was at the West Vancouver mall conducting surveillance just before 9 p.m. Thursday when the officers allegedly spotted a man holding the Birks jewellers clerk at gunpoint.
Police took down three suspects inside the store, as well as five other men in two vehicles waiting outside.
The firearm used in the suspected stick-up turned out to be an imitation though investigators also seized a can of bear spray from the suspects.
Police were busy interviewing witnesses and all eight arrested men Friday. Charges had yet to be laid.
Luckily, the incident was over almost as soon as it began, according to Nancy Small, Park Royal’s director of marketing and sustainability.
“It was fairly low key from what I heard,” she said. “From a shopper’s point of view, it seemed to be very low impact, so that’s good.”
This is the first time the Birks store has been hit in recent years, Small added.
