A team of dozens of DRPS members, both sworn and civilian, are responsible for taking down a group of violent jewelry thieves. The Robbery Unit was aware of the group who had hit stores in York and Durham. The Unit began working with their counterparts at York Regional Police (YRP) and a team was formed to identify the culprits. The suspects robbed another jewelry store in Oshawa at gunpoint and it became violent, leaving the owner severely beaten. The Robbery Unit was immediately aware of the incident and broadcast a vehicle description from the robbery held the day before. With the help of YRP, a cellphone believed to be involved was pinged. When it pinged to the Clarington area, officers immediately flooded the zone and had a visible presence near jewelry stores. Cst. Lloyd of East Division observed the suspect vehicle and followed strategically. Through the ongoing work of Comms/911, numerous marked vehicles, the OPP and our TSU were waiting ahead when the car entered Highway 401. They coordinated a tandem stop and the suspect vehicle attempted to evade the stop by side-swiping a police cruiser. The box held and all five suspects were arrested. One of the arresting officers was Cst. Chris Crosby who was working his very last shift after a tremendous 35-year career with DRPS.
