WARMINGTON: Accused teenage jewelry store bandits can trick court but not the cops

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These alleged teen jewelry store robbers may be able to beat Ontario’s youth court system but not Peel Regional Police.

You can run, wear a mask and scurry like rats after allegedly robbing a jewelry store in smash-and-grab style in front of terrified families in a mall. But in Peel Region, you cannot hide. Three teens learned that Thursday.

Peel cops are going to catch you. And it doesn’t matter how many weeks ago it was. They will find you and cuff you.

It’s especially hard for robbers to pull off crimes like this when they are allegedly doing multiple stores and are released from custody on conditions, which gives cops a pattern and understanding of their moves.

“Investigators from the Central Robbery Bureau have charged three young persons in relation to a series of violent smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies,” Peel Police said in a news release Thursday, explaining several bandits committed three robberies targeting jewelry stores within shopping mall settings in the region between Jan. 19 and Feb. 4.

Oops. Turns out you were not outsmarting the police after all. With help of Peel Police Sgt. Tyler Bell-Morena, I was able to learn quite a bit about this investigation, and the story is not just about the jewelry store heists but the court system that had two of the three accused before it and those who kept releasing them.

“Two of these robberies occurred in Mississauga and one in Brampton,” said police. “In all instances, the suspects rushed into the jewelry store armed with hammers and pry bars. Once inside the store the suspects began smashing glass display cases and removing merchandise with no regard for the safety of customers or employees.”

They may have thought their escape from the mall was enough. But it wasn’t.

“Our detectives are very skilled,” Peel Regional Police Association President Adrian Woolley said. “They are going to track you down every time. If only the court system did its job dealing with criminals with the same passion. The community would be safer if justices of the peace and judges took pride in their jobs and were held responsible when they don’t do it well, the way police officers are.”

I remember these robberies well – specifically the one at Erin Mills Town Centre Jan. 19 because my son, who is just a few years younger than these accused, and I were in the mall just after it happened. We saw the smashed glass and terrified faces. We talked to neighbouring stores who captured some of it on video with a phone.

The security guards did an amazing job of getting over to the store fast but one of them explained these kids were so fast, they just couldn’t catch them. They made it to the car and fled.

But the robbers made mistakes. They dropped things, they had a getaway car in the camera range and hit other stores in Mississauga and Brampton.

“Investigators identified and located three suspects involved in these offences,” police said. “The stolen vehicle used by the suspects was also recovered.”

Two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old were arrested and remain held until a bail hearing. For two of them it was not their first rodeo.

Police charged the 17-year-old boy from Nova Scotia with two counts each of robbery, wearing a disguise with intent and failure to comply with release orders.

One of the 16-year-old boys, from Kitchener, is charged with three counts of robbery, three counts of wearing a disguise with intent, one count of possession of property obtained by crime, three counts of failure to comply with an undertaking to show up in court and three counts of failure “to comply with sentence of disposition,” which Bell-Morena explained means “a person has not followed the instructions set out by a judges sentence” like “not completing community service, paying restitution, getting a job, taking a class etc. So, in other words, the individual was sentenced by a judge and didn’t follow the terms of the sentence.”

The third accused, a 16-year-old Toronto boy, is charged with robbery and wearing a disguise with intent.

This investigation is still ongoing. There could be more charges coming and more suspects cuffed.

The first two should not get easy release because that has not worked before. The Youth Criminal Justice Act protects their names from being released but it does not help them get on a straight path. If the system keeps giving them a pass, they are not going to learn anything from it. Perhaps this is the time, their alleged crimes are taken seriously. I won’t hold my breath. But these kids have had enough breaks handed to them. It’s time to teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget.

The cops did their job. It’s the court’s turn this time.

jwarmington@postmedia.com