Investigators say they’re looking for four suspects after surveillance video captured Mississauga jewelry store workers fending off would-be robbers with swords Wednesday afternoon.
Peel Regional Police said officers responded to a call about a robbery at Ashok Jewellers on Airport Road and Beverley Street at around 12:15 p.m.
Video from inside the store appears to show an employee and a customer suddenly back away from a window as the suspects break the glass with some sort of object.
But as the robbers attempted to make their way into the store through the window, three store employees charge at them wielding swords.
“Individuals were breaking the front glass window and trying to gain access to the store,” Const. Danny Marttini told Global News on Thursday.
“The employees and owner inside tried to obviously send them off and actually did well in the sense that they were able to send them off.”
“The culprits did end up coming right back out the window.”
Marttini said there were four suspects in total and that one of them was brandishing a gun.
While there were no injuries reported and no property was stolen, Marttini said police do not condone the use of swords by the employees.
“It could have easily turned into a completely different situation. We could have been looking at numerous people being injured,” she said.
“I have to say that property is not of equal value to a human being.”
Marttini said the suspects fled in a dark-coloured Dodge Durango northbound down Airport Road.
The first two suspects are described as male between five-foot-eight and five-foot-10 with a medium build. Both were wearing blue jumpsuits with reflective safety decals, black toques, black shoes, black hoodies and black backpacks at the time of the incident.
The third suspect is described as male between five-foot-nine and five-foot-11 with a heavy build. He was wearing a black jacket with a hood, blue jeans, black shoes, white gloves and was armed with a black handgun.
The fourth suspect is described as having a slim build and was wearing black pants, white gloves and a black winter jacket with a fur-lined hood and a black bag.
WATCH: Mississauga jewelry store workers fend off would-be robbers with swords. Kamil Karamali reports.
The owner told Global News on Thursday that no one was hurt. But said they would not be commenting further as it is an ongoing police investigation.
In July, an owner of a jewelry store metres away from Ashok Jewellers also fought off would-be robbers with swords.
A red van rammed the front window of the New Rana Jewellers repeatedly before three people could be seen entering the store. At the time, police said the suspects took several pieces of jewelry from the store.
Investigators are appealing for witnesses, dash-cam or surveillance video or anyone with information on this incident to contact investigators from the Centeral Robbery Bureau at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3410 or Peel Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
—With files from Kamil Karamali
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