A man and woman are wanted after allegedly taking off with more than $10,000 worth of jewellery from the Roadshow’s 400 Antiques Mall in Innisfil.
Surveillance camera footage obtained by CTV News Barrie shows the man and woman arriving in a black minivan, and entering the store through the front doors.
Store manager Fred Pelton tells us the pair made no attempt to conceal their identity, and their every move was captured on one of the 24 cameras in the store.
“They’ll ask to see an item. She’ll open the showcase door, and take the item out. She then closes the showcase door right there, so that people can’t put their hands into the showcase. That’s normal store procedure,” says store manager Fred Pelton, who is adamant his staff did everything by the book.
Pelton says the couple then chose several items they wanted to buy, causing a diversion.
They picked up two rings, two bracelets, and a brooch.
At the cashier, the couple reportedly asked for the cheaper jewellery items to be wrapped in their own tissue paper.
“(The employee) grabs a bag for them to put it in. The woman picks up all the pieces that are wrapped to put them into a bag. At that exact second, you see the man will take his wad of money, and start flashing it. It’s a distraction, while the woman slips a piece up her sleeve. That’s the package that had all the expensive gold in it,” says Pelton.
The man and woman then ask the store to hold their items while they go get cash from the bank.
The pair is now accused of leaving with the jewellery, and never coming back.
“They were pretty good at what they did,” says Sergeant Todd Ferrier from South Simcoe Police.
Police are now looking for the pair, and they don’t think it will be hard to find them, thanks to the good quality surveillance video.
“We’re looking to our social media partners to identify these people, and find out exactly where they’re from and who they are,” says Sgt. Ferrier.
