Jewelry store thefts are soaring at the same time that bank robberies are on the decline.
“We’ve had nine jewelry store thefts to date, whereas this time last year we had four,” Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton said yesterday.
Bank robberies have decreased from 74 incidences at this time last year to 27 cases in 2009.
The latest jewelry store heist became a high-profile occurrence after police say an armed woman came too close to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell while fleeing police.
She was arrested on Monday after a woman and a man robbed Montecristo Jewellers only blocks away from the downtown hotel where Campbell was being interviewed.
“She did not know the premier was there, he happened to be in the area,” Houghton said.
Police are still looking for the male suspect.
This is the second time Montecristo Jewellers has been targeted in the last two years.
