THUNDER BAY – In a scene ripped off the pages of a Hollywood script, thieves smashed through three walls and broke into a Memorial Avenue gold business.
Chuck Sanford, who owns Exquisite Gold and Gems, said he was alerted by an employee on Tuesday morning that his business had been targeted and urged to get to the store immediately.
Upon arriving he found the thieves, who he suspects of having cased his store, had smashed glass cases housing jewelry and gold, and absconded with a yet-to-be-determined amount of merchandise.
“It is what it is,” Sanford said.
“But it’s a violation. Not only is it monetary thing – and you can always replace stuff, and fortunately nobody was hurt, nobody was here, so that’s a good thing. But yeah, you feel violated. It’s your space. It’s my business. It’s not great.”
He has no doubt it was a well-planned heist.
“We think it was cased. It was definitely not a last-minute thing. This was pre-determined and planned as far as how it was going to happen,” Sanford said. “You can tell. This was done with a lot of foresight.”
Sanford on Wednesday morning said they weren’t exactly sure just how much was taken, adding they were working on an inventory account.
But he cautioned customers who had left items at the store they had nothing to fear, as each night they take the customers’ merchandise and lock it up in the store safe.
“Everything that was taken was just regular stock,” he said, “You can’t replace sentimental value, so everything goes in the safes at night and in order to get at those you’d need to be a little more sophisticated than this.”
Police confirmed they believe thieves tunneled through the wall of an adjacent, unoccupied building, entering through an unlocked door.
The criminal investigations branch continues to investigate.
Later on Wednesday police announced they’d arrested a pair of Ottawa men, who now face drug and theft charges.
Police allegedly found jewelry with tags still on the items among the haul taken from an Egan Place residence, where a truck allegedly stolen from a local car rental company was also recovered. The two suspects face a litany of charges.
Pills and a knife were also recovered, along with large sums of cash.
