Ancaster jewelry store moves to new location after series of violent robberies

An Ancaster jewelery store is shutting its doors after 50 years and moving to a new location following a series of violent robberies.

The owner of Ancaster Jewellers on Wilson Street shared security video from two years ago, when he and his son fought off armed robbers in his store.

He asked that the violence not be shown, but it is robberies like this one that have forced him to close the shop in favour of a safer location.

On Dec. 5, 2024, Ancaster Jewellers on Wilson Street was robbed at gunpoint for the second time, after thieves rammed a truck through the front window of the store.

“The first time I couldn’t sleep for six months,” owner Jean-Pierre Verbunt says. “The second time it was me and my son and I think kind of glad it was me and him because it hasn’t stressed out the staff. They weren’t here so they don’t feel it like we did.”

Verbunt and his son, Russell, fought back with all they had, despite nine intruders being armed with a gun, hammers and a sledgehammer.

“The last one, I took blows to the head with the hammer more than a few times,” Verbunt said. “My son also took a blow with a sledgehammer to the back.”

The store, which has been at this location for 50 years, was first robbed at gunpoint on Christmas Eve in 1998. Verbunt did not fight back then.

“That wasn’t as bad as us fighting nine guys with hammers,” he says. “A hammer is a weapon. Forget about the guy that pointed a gun at my head, the hammer to the head, that was…”

The store has also been broken into three times overnight.

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“They break down the door, they came through once with concrete saw through the rolldown shutters. But they didn’t get much, it’s the damage,” Verbunt said. “It’s an insurance claim. And insurance here, because we’ve had five robberies in this location, is getting to be exorbitant.”

That is why he is closing the store and has purchased a new location on Garner Road. His son Russell will run it while Verbunt takes a step back. Because the new site has not been robbed, insurance will be cheaper.

Verbunt is confident that with enough security measures in place, this type of crime can be eliminated.

“If I look at the industry worldwide, you can curb this type of crime by more security,” he said. “A smoke that can fill this store in five seconds, with non-toxic smoke. Literally, count to five seconds and you can’t see your shoes.”

Three of the men involved in the last armed robbery were arrested, charged and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.

“Now that they’ve got seven years in prison, it’s a big relief,” Verbunt said. “We have a full description of who they are, where they came from. They were actually born in Canada, they were actually university educated – one of them educated in criminology – how do these people turn bad, I don’t know. Everybody wants to blame it on immigrants but in this case, it’s not.”

Verbunt says all of the robberies happened around the Christmas season.

He added that the Wilson Street store will remain open until April of next year.

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