Man, 19, and boy, 16, charged in York Region jewelry store heist, home invasion
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Two teenagers face charges for a jewelry store robbery in Richmond Hill and a home invasion in Markham.
And two more culprits are still sought.
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Man, 19, and boy, 16, charged in York Region jewelry store heist, home invasion Back to video
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York Regional Police say officers responded to a robbery at a mall near Yonge St. and Carrville Rd. around 6:45 p.m. on Monday.
Three bandits entered a jewelry store, discharged an aerosol irritant at employees and smashed display cases before fleeing with a quantity of jewelry in a white sedan driven by a fourth accomplice, police allege.
Cops claim investigators subsequently linked the smash-and-grab robbers to two recent home invasions – one in Markham on Saturday and another in Hamilton on Monday.
On Thursday, two suspects were arrested without incident.
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The two others involved in the jewelry store heist have not yet been identified and no suspect descriptions have been released.
Investigators believe the suspects may be connected to additional robberies and an image of the adult accused has been released.
Aaron Simms, 19, and a 16-year-old boy, both of Ajax, are charged with three counts each of robbery with offensive weapon, disguise with intent and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, and one count each of theft of motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and possession of a prohibited weapon while prohibited.
Simms also faces breach of probation and the youth is additionally charged with failure to comply with release order.
At the time of this incident, Simms was on probation conditions related to previous, unrelated offences and the youth was on bail in connection with an unrelated incident, police said.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the Hold-Up Unit at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 6630, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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