Paris Jewellers at the Oshawa Centre has fallen victim to yet another smash-and-grab robbery — the sixth time in under two years — in what has become a troubling pattern of increasingly brazen thefts targeting jewelry retailers across Durham Region.
Durham Police say the latest incident happened on Remembrance Day around 8:30 p.m., when two masked suspects entered the store and immediately began smashing display cases. Grabbing handfuls of jewelry, the pair fled in a vehicle later confirmed to have been stolen. No injuries were reported.
The store has become a repeat target, suffering similar attacks this past October, June, and January — with several of those incidents involving multiple teenage suspects, some reportedly under five feet tall. In 2024 alone, Paris Jewellers was robbed twice, including during a mid-May spree when thieves hit three jewelry stores in a single day.
The problem extends beyond Oshawa. People’s Jewellers in Pickering City Centre was robbed less than three weeks ago, and Graziella Fine Jewelry was struck twice in 2024, highlighting a broader trend of coordinated smash-and-grab thefts plaguing the region’s malls and shopping centres.
Investigators are urging anyone with information to contact Durham Police’s Robbery Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5355. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or online, with reward eligibility available.
The repeated attacks underscore growing concerns among retailers and police about organized theft rings and the rising frequency of violent property crime in Ontario’s urban malls.