The hunt is on for four hammer-wielding suspects after a brazen afternoon jewellery store robbery at the Stratford Mall.
Multiple 911 calls were made to Stratford police regarding the smash-and-grab robbery at Paris Jewellers just before 5 p.m. on Sunday. Witnesses reported four masked suspects had walked into the store and began using hammers to smash the glass display cases before taking off with an unknown amount of jewellery.
No injuries were reported.
The four ran to the parking lot where they got into a black Honda Accord with licence plate DCPP 820. The sedan had been reported stolen from the Peel Region earlier in the day.
Police initially gave chase, but the pursuit was called off just west of Shakespeare out of the interest of public safety.
The vehicle was later spotted on Highway 7/8 near Homer Watson Boulevard by Waterloo Regional police. Officers did not pursue the vehicle as it was allegedly being driven at a very high rate of speed while swerving in and out of traffic.
A description of the suspects is limited as all four men were wearing masks and hoodies that concealed their identities, police said.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call police at 519-271-4141 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
This is the second time Paris Jewellers has been targeted by thieves this year. In February, five suspects carried out a similar smash-and-grab robbery at the store. One employee suffered minor injuries in the robbery. Four of the five suspects were later arrested in Kitchener.