Like a scene from The Blues Brothers, thieves in North Vancouver drove through a mall to perform a smash-and-grab at a jewelry store Thursday night.
Capilano Mall security called 9-1-1 just after 10:30 p.m. when someone in a red Jeep smashed through the mall's front doors, drove through the mall and punched through the security fence outside Fame Diamonds.
From there, thieves were able to break into a number of glass display cases. Police and store management were still doing an inventory Friday morning to determine how much
the thieves made off with, said Cpl. Richard De Jong, North Vancouver RC MP spokesman.
The red jeep, which had been reported stolen, turned up ditched at Marine Drive and Fell Avenue, two blocks away. Officers brought in the RC MP canine unit, but the dogs could not pick up the suspects' scent.
Police are reviewing mall security footage. All police could say Friday morning is that there were two suspects, wearing hoodies.
Regardless of how much the thieves got, it won't be a good haul once the goods are sold, given the black market price offered for stolen jewelry, De Jong said.
"You're going to get almost pennies on the dollar for it," De Jong said. "Anytime you're fencing stolen property, the biggest risk is getting caught with stolen property. Someone who's fencing it off will accept any reasonable offer."
De Jong said it's not clear whether this was a cunning heist with weeks of planning or a dumb, desperate act.
"It could be a bit of both.
We often see copycat crimes of this nature. People see it done, whether it be in movies or in real life," he said. "They gave it some thought. They appeared to be successful but our investigation is ongoing and we're going to be putting all our resources into catching them."
De Jong said it has been a "long time" since anything similar happened inside one of the North Shore's malls.
