Robbers crash truck into Rexdale jewelry store, steal merchandise, police say

A man is in hospital after another smash-and-grab jewelry store robbery in the Greater Toronto Area Sunday evening, when police say the suspects crashed a vehicle into the building. 

Toronto police say they responded to the robbery near Islington Avenue and Albion Road in Rexdale just before 5:30 p.m. 

The suspects crashed a vehicle into the building, then entered the store and stole some merchandise before fleeing the area, police said in a post on social media. 

Video of the robbery posted online shows at least three suspects in disguise swinging sledgehammers inside Raj's Jewellery moments after driving a truck into the shop. 

Police say one person who was inside at the time was injured during the robbery and taken to hospital.

The store's co-owner Sadia Sharma said her husband was the person who was injured after being attacked by the suspects. Sharma said Monday he remains in hospital with serious injuries. 

Mona Choudhry owns the Mahek Salon nearby. In all her 25 years of doing business in the area, she says she's never seen anything like this. 

"What happened yesterday, I'm so scared," she said Monday. 

Toronto police said officers canvassed the area for video surveillance but hadn't made any arrests as of Monday afternoon. 

Latest in string of robberies

Sunday's robbery is the latest in a string of similar incidents in the Greater Toronto Area this month. 

Local police responded to two robberies at jewelry stores last week alone — one at the Fairview Mall in Toronto, and another at a store in Richmond Hill. 

Data from local police forces shows these type of robberies have more than doubled in some part of the GTA when compared to last year. 

As of mid-December, there were 43 robberies targeting jewelry stores in 2024 in Toronto, up from 21 during the same time period in 2023. 

Peel Region saw 37 robberies as of mid-December, up from 10 recorded over the same period in 2023. 

In a statement to CBC, a Toronto Police Service spokesperson said its hold-up Squad is collaborating closely with other law enforcement agencies in the GTA, Toronto Crime Stoppers, the Retail Council of Canada, jewellery store owners, property management companies and security companies to combat the rise in robberies targeting jewelery stores.