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Five wanted in Pen Centre, St. Catharines jewelry store robbery

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Five suspects are wanted in the daytime smash-and-grab robbery at a shopping mall in St. Catharines yesterday.

The theft happened just after 1 p.m. at Griffin Jewellery & Design in The Pen Centre on Glendale Avenue.

The suspects used a sledgehammer to smash several display cases at the front of the store and managed to steal some jewelry and stash it in the bags they were carrying before they took off down the corridor.

The bold incident was caught on video from the nearby food court and a mall patron could be seen throwing a chair at the robbers.

READ MORE: St. Catharines’ Pen Centre closed Thursday as police investigate robbery

A few other people in the mall attempted to intervene and stop the culprits.

Two witnesses were sprayed with an irritant similar to a pepper spray and another person collided with a column in the pursuit and was transported to a hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The suspects are described as follows: 

Suspect 1: White hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes

Suspect 2: Black hooded sweatshirt with white lettering, forest green pants, white shoes and blue face mask

Suspect 3: Black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes with a black duffel bag and blue face mask

Suspect 4: Black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, white shoes, black duffel bag and white face mask

Suspect 5: Black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, white shoes and a green bag.

The suspects ran out of the Pen Centre via an east exit and got into a silver-colour Honda CR-V with Ontario licence plate BFZV 946. The car was seen driving toward Chestnut Street West.

The plate was later found to be registered to a different vehicle.

There have been multiple jewelry store robberies in Southern Ontario the past few months, many of them in broad daylight and in busy shopping areas.

The most recent one in the area was at Mapleview Mall in Burlington on Jan. 4.

READ MORE: Halton police investigate Mapleview Mall jewelry store robbery

Detectives are asking any witnesses, or anyone with video footage to contact them at 905-688-4111, dial option 3, ext 1009703.