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Terra.Anatolia
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00:00This edition of The Fifth Estate.
00:04A violent criminal network responsible for home invasions and robberies.
00:08Brazen attacks often in broad daylight.
00:11Many of the suspects are just kids.
00:14We've got very young persons committing very violent crimes.
00:18Smash and grabs, they're on the rise and videos like these have gone viral.
00:22But who or what's behind it?
00:25He was approached by somebody who told him that he wanted to see young teens make money and flourish.
00:34They are walking, bags in their hands.
00:36And they know we're here.
00:38We get extraordinary access inside a police takedown.
00:42This is another potential break in the case.
00:44He pointed the gun directly at her.
00:47This trauma will stay with them forever.
00:50But what's happening to these offenders once they're caught?
00:53They can keep doing it and get away with it.
00:56What's to stop that?
00:57We're strengthening the criminal code.
00:59To get tough on bail.
01:01We need to be invested in OU's future.
01:03Do you think the answer is to lock kids up?
01:06For those that are committing absolute violent crime, they have to be held to account.
01:10I'm Ioana Ruma-Yotis. This is The Fifth Estate.
01:23It's taken weeks to get to this moment.
01:33Officers with the York Regional Police Holdup Unit from north of Toronto are ready and moving in.
01:40So we're going to load up into our vehicles, head to our location.
01:46Let's go.
01:48So we're heading down to the east end of Toronto to execute a search warrant.
01:53Detective Sergeant Ryan Boulay and his team are on their way to what they believe is a flop house connected to a series of violent robberies.
02:02They don't know what they'll find.
02:04We're here.
02:06This access is rare.
02:08We usually report on police operations after they happen.
02:12This time, we're about to see one unfold.
02:15The team just went into the building.
02:18They're likely at the door now, I would assume, and they're about to execute the warrant.
02:22They're hoping this is a break in the case that will finally ease weeks of torment for victims.
02:29The GoPro we don't need now, right?
02:32Once on site, things move fast.
02:36So the occupant in the residence is now under arrest.
02:40They've located jewelry within the unit.
02:43Wow.
02:44You think jewelry connected to any of the robberies that you're investigating?
02:46It potentially is.
02:47We spent a week in July with the team.
02:50It's one of the police units at the epicenter of a shocking wave of smashing grabs in Ontario.
02:57On this day, officers found more than jewelry.
03:00So we found one of our outstanding suspects.
03:03It was actually in the apartment.
03:04That was unanticipated but obviously good for us.
03:07We found a balaclava which these guys normally wear to cover their face and their head.
03:12A mound of potential evidence that could unravel a dangerous criminal network.
03:17Hammers that they obviously run into the store with and splash the displacement.
03:21This one's a replica but obviously looks very real.
03:24Jewelry item here from people's jewelry.
03:27Shattered glass obviously from display cases as well.
03:30Thieves hit not one but two stores at a mall in Mississauga last night.
03:33It's happening across the country.
03:35But the Greater Toronto Area has been pummeled the hardest by a surge of these violent robberies.
03:40Good evening, the police pursuit spilled out onto the streets in Markham.
03:44Stunned shoppers watching as the dramatic scene unfolded.
03:48Groups of young people brazenly smashing through glass.
03:52Taking what they can grab as fast as they can.
03:57Causing serious damage in only seconds.
04:00Leaving jewelers on edge and preparing for the worst.
04:04I was just working on my bench on a ring and suddenly I noticed three guys just walked in.
04:11And as soon as I saw their face was mask and hoodie.
04:15A year ago, three males stormed Jerry Cerani's Markham store with hammers and bags.
04:21I just grabbed the broomstick I had here, grabbed it just right away, tried to chase them out.
04:27So turned around from here.
04:29The two guys in the back, as soon as they saw me going for them, they just ran away.
04:34And one guy stayed in the back here.
04:37I just, when I hit him, he turned around, I hit him, I got him in the face.
04:41And with that, he shook him up a little bit.
04:44Cerani posted this viral video three months later after seeing this bolt attack in the same mall.
04:51The beginning was not my intention at all to even to release it.
04:54The only reason I did it because it was happening to my way too many times.
04:59And nobody was paying any attention.
05:01The video and his broomstick got the attention he and his colleague Joe Kasap wanted.
05:06I think it brought a lot of people to realize, oh, it's not just only one or two locations.
05:11It's happening almost everywhere.
05:13It's been like, what, almost three years that it keeps going on like this.
05:17It's like, it's not stopping.
05:19The overall crime rate across the country has been fairly stable for the last decade.
05:25But rates of violent crime have been inching up.
05:28Crime rate statistics for 2025 are not out yet.
05:32But we compiled data from police and news reports and found there have been at least 60 jewelry store robberies in Ontario just this year.
05:40In York Region alone, the number of jewelry store robberies doubled last year and is set to surpass that amount by the end of 2025.
05:49Now we're expecting it, right?
05:51So we've mentally prepared for it.
05:53Prepared because suspects didn't target them once.
05:56A month later, it happened again.
05:59It looked like same gang almost.
06:02Young kids with masks, with hoodies and knapsacks and hammers.
06:06They just walked in again and we just replaced the glass and they tried to break it in again.
06:11I just said, OK, no, that's not going to happen.
06:14Just, just interfered and chased them away.
06:17He chased them away that time, but not for long.
06:20And then it happened again after that in June or there was another?
06:23Yes.
06:24And then that's when that made us to actually lock the door.
06:27And then they still tried to come in?
06:29Yes.
06:30Unfortunately, a few months ago, the five guys rushed in.
06:33Again, he was here at the time.
06:35And they tried to open the door and they could not go through.
06:39They just left and ran away.
06:41It was the third attempt in a year.
06:45Beyond Surani and Kasap, few jewelers would agree to talk to us for this story.
06:50For fear of making themselves a target and spooking customers.
06:54In fact, the chains in malls with wide open storefronts are often a target.
06:58But they never got back to us.
07:00You see, the crime is getting bigger and bigger.
07:02Getting more violent.
07:04So something has to happen.
07:06Something has to change.
07:08The smash and grab was like really starting to spike here in October, November and December of 2024.
07:14And into January, February of 2025.
07:17I think it's starting to spread.
07:20Scott Hayes is a former RCMP investigator.
07:23He works as a security advisor for Jewelers Vigilance Canada.
07:27The organization works to prevent crime in the industry.
07:30So Jewelry store robberies aren't new.
07:33But what I think is new in the last couple years is the, how violent and brazen it's becoming.
07:41The amount of people involved.
07:42And as the public reports are from the police, the amount of young offenders that are being corralled into committing this sort of crime.
07:51One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
07:53Hayes says he's also seen the number of suspects working together going up.
07:58I found that you'd start with two or three people going into a store.
08:02Then five, six, seven, eight.
08:04Then really swarms of people for lack of a better term.
08:08Swarming a place and then being out in maybe less than a minute, 90 seconds.
08:13Very quick.
08:14And speed is your friend when you're a criminal.
08:17What happens to the stolen goods?
08:19I mean, there's a lot of people who collect gold, melt it down and sell it.
08:23That's not uncommon.
08:24The jewelry itself though, it's going to get resold.
08:28It'll end up back in another ring, end up in a necklace, gets put into other jewelry and then resold.
08:33So most of this jewelry ends up back on the legitimate market.
08:42More and more cases we're seeing that a lot of the offenders are young offenders.
08:45We first met with Detective Sergeant Boulay four days before the takedown we showed you earlier.
08:51At this point, their only lead is a stolen Honda Accord.
08:56We're trying to identify persons of interest, addresses of interest, unique pieces of clothing,
09:03anything that's going to help progress our investigation to solve any of the crimes that have happened up to today
09:10that we know of relating to that vehicle or that crew of suspects.
09:15Police say the Honda they're watching has a stolen license plate that could be connected to a series of robberies.
09:21And they're operating as a team out there to run physical surveillance on suspects, on the other suspect vehicle.
09:28Is that your team?
09:37Yep.
09:38How long have they been watching?
09:40This car was located this morning and they've been out there ever since.
09:47We believe that the crew associated to this vehicle has been involved in at least 10 jewelry store robberies,
09:54as well as a couple of home invasions and multiple theft of license plate occurrences.
10:01Are we almost there?
10:03Yeah.
10:04We're just going to pull up to a parking lot here and we're just going to meet one of the investigators
10:07that's been on the surveillance detail today.
10:10Hold on.
10:11This is Detective Kevin Smith.
10:13Oh yeah.
10:14He's in charge of the surveillance team.
10:16So we have the vehicle, the primary vehicle that we located this morning.
10:20So that vehicle was stolen out of another jurisdiction and then used in a series of crimes.
10:25It's almost like a big spider web and that's where our crime analyst comes and plays such an integral part
10:30of the investigation.
10:32They're in the background trying to piece together, you know, this car was related to this incident
10:37and this car was related to this incident.
10:39Police say the robberies come in waves and they're in the middle of one.
10:43How often do these smash and grabs happen?
10:46On average?
10:47Let's see.
10:48Recently, anywhere from two to four per week.
10:51That's just in York Region.
10:52And these crews are likely active outside of York Region.
10:56It's a lot.
10:57But it's certainly a lot more than I think we've seen over the last number of years.
11:01The work can be tedious and time consuming.
11:04Someone else having their sense.
11:06Can we get a cut or we put more time on this today?
11:12Good to come on.
11:14It's time to head back to the station to figure out the next move.
11:19Hi guys, this is the CBC team that's doing a documentary.
11:24Hello.
11:25Hi.
11:26These are the investigators that were out set up on the road today doing the surveillance.
11:30To get to this point, we had to undergo background checks and agree to not disclose some investigative techniques police use to track suspects.
11:39So I think the big success from today was locating that vehicle.
11:44And how critical is a car like that to the investigation?
11:48I mean right now it's basically the only lead that we have to go off of because we don't have any leads on the offenders at this point.
11:54So we're hoping that the car leads us to the offenders.
11:57Coming up.
11:58And then my little one said they put a gun on our head.
12:02As a mom, I felt like my jaw fell to the floor.
12:14We're back at York Police Headquarters in Aurora, 50 kilometres north of downtown Toronto.
12:20The Honda police have been watching hasn't budged.
12:23Were you expecting anything to happen or is that typical?
12:26You know what, last night was kind of a corruption.
12:29We didn't know if anything was going to go on so we, the team was ready and it was uneventful.
12:35So it was good, everyone got some rest.
12:36I guess that's the upside.
12:38You never really know what's going to happen and it's just, the teams are just ready to go.
12:42They're waiting by the phone and we're just going to step in here.
12:45Yeah.
12:46So the team, the two teams are in here now.
12:48The morning team is handing over to the afternoon team and the investigation is getting wider.
12:54It turns out there are now two cars under surveillance.
12:58So this is in relation to the Accord and Lexus and the retail series, including some home invasions that we'll get into as well.
13:07Biggest takeaway from yesterday was we did some video canvassing.
13:11Yeah, and I think the video today would have linked the Toronto home invasion to ours once we took a look at the clothing.
13:18Police say the Lexus was stolen during a home invasion linked to the jewelry store robberies.
13:24This crew was last active on the 2nd of July.
13:29When they're out in the Halton region, they did a Michael Hill jewelry store and they utilized the Lexus that's involved in the series.
13:36Listening closely, crime analyst Jill Elliott.
13:39So if you see the purple, those are all jewelry store robberies.
13:43All these purple ones have the black Honda Accord and all of it.
13:48Elliott started looking at license plates involved in the series of crimes and made a breakthrough discovery.
13:54What I've been noticing is that recently the plates that they're attaching onto it are being stolen out of Toronto.
14:04And the plates that they're originally attached to are grey or black Honda Civics
14:09because they've been changing up these plates every time a robbery has happened.
14:14So they're putting a plate from a similar vehicle on the stolen vehicle?
14:18Yeah.
14:19Okay.
14:20Elliott's work helped police map out 11 jewelry store robberies in this series,
14:25spanning from the west in Stratford, north to Collingwood and east to Oshawa,
14:29both in malls and street front shops.
14:33How do you suspect that the same vehicle is being used in all these different crimes if the plates don't necessarily match?
14:40The suspect car is parked right out front of the entrance of the jewelry store.
14:45So the car is left running with a driver and there's great cameras in malls.
14:49So they get that, they get that plate.
14:52We run the plate.
14:53It's not supposed to be attached to this black Honda Accord.
14:56Actually, we see a report that the homeowner said that they got their plate stolen two days prior to this incident.
15:03So my guess was, you know what?
15:04I bet they're going to dump that plate and they're going to steal another plate.
15:07And so then it kind of just exploded out of there.
15:10These guys kept using hammers to break into jewelry stores and then it started linking
15:14and I started seeing this clothing on home invasions.
15:18Before long, police were able to link three home invasions to the series of robberies.
15:23Two in Toronto, one in Markham.
15:26It's becoming what Detective Sergeant Boulet said.
15:29It's a spider web.
15:30It's getting linked everywhere.
15:32Taking down suspects of home invasions is a big part of the hold-up unit's work.
15:39And the crimes can be the most traumatic for victims.
15:44It's been a year since a family's worst nightmare came true.
15:45In Richmond Hill, north of Toronto.
15:46It's been a year since a family's worst nightmare came true.
15:47In Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, masked intruders tried to get in through the front door.
15:53When that didn't work, they used a rock to smash through the back.
16:00At first, I thought it was my parents.
16:01They had come home from their night out.
16:02But I wasn't in the middle of it.
16:03My sister first heard the noise and then she woke me up.
16:08It's been a year since a family's worst nightmare came true.
16:12In Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, masked intruders tried to get in through the front door.
16:17When that didn't work, they used a rock to smash through the back.
16:21At first, I thought it was my parents.
16:24They had come home from their night out.
16:27But I wasn't sure.
16:30It felt like such a blur to me.
16:34This family agreed to share their story but asked us not to show their daughters' faces for their safety.
16:40The oldest is now 25.
16:42She called her parents.
16:44Her father, Krish, knew something was very wrong.
16:47Around 1.30 in the night, we got a call from our older daughter.
16:52And the call came and then it got disconnected.
16:54And then we started calling them pretty frantically, like, you know, trying to reach them.
16:59And then they were not picking up.
17:02I didn't have enough time to get my glasses.
17:05So I couldn't see very well.
17:07And when we came here to look down, that's when they stormed up the stairs.
17:15And when they saw that I had the phone, they snatched it out of my hands.
17:21And then they started yelling at us and pointing guns at us.
17:26And then they hurted us both through here.
17:31The intruders demanded the keys to the family's Lamborghini parked in the driveway.
17:36They kept saying, like, where's the car? Where are the car keys? Give us the car keys.
17:42And I tapped one of them and I said, please, like, we don't, we don't have the car keys.
17:48The youngest daughter is now just 14.
17:51One of the guys, he ran into my parents' room and he started rummaging through our dresser and all the drawers.
18:04And then he found the key.
18:08I started screaming and crying.
18:10And then the third guy, he got really angry.
18:14So he took out his gun and he pointed it at me and was like, be quiet, shut up.
18:20And then they all started running down the steps.
18:29They took the car, they took the car.
18:32Okay.
18:33And how many people, how many people came in?
18:37The way my sister was crying and screaming,
18:41that's something I can never forget.
18:44I don't think I can describe it in any way how scared I felt, how terrified I was.
18:53A police officer called their parents who were already racing home.
18:57The whole ordeal lasted 15 minutes.
19:00Their mom Lopa says it still feels like a lifetime.
19:03She was crying that our car is gone.
19:07I said, that's okay, we can get another car.
19:11Don't worry about it.
19:12That's when she mentioned they had a gun on our head.
19:16I just didn't know how to react.
19:18I don't know how my, these two kids, they handled the whole thing.
19:24It was probably one of the worst 15 minutes so far in my life and our life.
19:29My family has completely changed within those 15 minutes.
19:34We are still struggling.
19:36This trauma will stay with them forever and us as well.
19:41So this is just a series of photos that our forensic officers captured when they were on the scene.
19:47While their case is not connected to the jewelry store robberies we've been following,
19:51it does fall under York Police's holdup unit.
19:54Detective Smith responded to the call that night.
19:57So you can see there's still a portion of the glass that's intact at the top.
20:01The suspects thought they had gotten away but what they didn't know is the family had hidden an air tag in the SUV.
20:10We were fortunately able to track the vehicle down.
20:13It was with a secondary vehicle that was involved in a home invasion in a different jurisdiction from a few days earlier.
20:19Yeah, that's the arrest.
20:22They were uncapping them.
20:25Krish followed police to the scene.
20:28That must have been something for you to see eh, Krish?
20:30What was going through your mind when you saw that?
20:32Well, at least I see that they were able to catch them.
20:37They were able to find them and arrest them.
20:41A 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old later pleaded guilty to armed robbery.
20:46The adult also pleaded guilty to use of an imitation firearm.
20:50But a third suspect got away.
20:52Was the vehicle damaged?
20:54It was, yeah.
20:56Because the police surrounded them during the arrest?
21:01Correct in that.
21:02There was an attempt to flee.
21:04Sure, they had a high-end vehicle.
21:06But they obtained that high-end vehicle by legitimate means through hard work.
21:10They should be able to enjoy that property without fear of people entering their house in the middle of the night
21:14and holding their family at gunpoint to obtain it.
21:17Since then, the family has taken extreme precautions, installing panic buttons, a motion-detecting system and these.
21:25These are aluminium shutters.
21:30This stays down.
21:33Nobody can break into my house anymore.
21:35Can you imagine, as a family, we keep all the doors and the windows shut all the time with the rollers.
21:43No lights.
21:45No lights.
21:48That's not how you're supposed to live.
21:50That's not how the kids are supposed to be brought up.
21:54Like, that makes me feel bad more than anything else, right?
21:59I mean, that's not what we came here for.
22:02That's not what we thought this country would be.
22:05And it's a constant reminder to me that this happened.
22:11Ahead.
22:12You know, we've never seen the prevalence of young persons committing crimes at these levels, ever.
22:18I think that my son heard the treasure that awaited him and kind of got baited with that.
22:27Thank you and good morning, everyone.
22:42Project Night Train is another takedown of a violent criminal network responsible for home invasions and robberies.
22:51Over in neighbouring Peel Region, the alarming jump in jewelry store robberies and home invasions prompted police to create a task force called Project Night Train.
23:01Police announced the results of the crackdown this past July.
23:05We have identified 13 individuals responsible for these crimes.
23:13We met with Inspector Sean Brennan and the team behind Project Night Train in Mississauga.
23:18They gave us a behind-the-scenes breakdown of the investigation.
23:21Many of the suspects, they say, are just kids.
23:24You know, we've never seen the prevalence of young persons committing crimes at these levels, ever.
23:30It's disturbing when, you know, we're talking a three-year average here in central robbery for the Region of Peel,
23:36and 40% of our offenders are young persons.
23:39Escalation of violence is the worst we've seen in this office by far, and over property and stuff, too.
23:44You are scarring these people for life.
23:47So six of the 13 arrested being young people.
23:51It's not just a problem that we're having.
23:53Case-specific for us, it's kind of a trend region-wide, GTA-wide.
23:58Something we're trying to obviously get ahead of, figuring out the recruitment process.
24:03What's emerging, police say, is minors being approached by adults.
24:08Is there a master who's kind of controlling the show, or how is this happening?
24:13It seems like there's a network on social media.
24:15It's usually young people at risk are met by somebody who we would call the organizer.
24:21They exchange phone numbers.
24:23They create these group chats.
24:25And when they're ready to go identify a target, they'll put it out on the group chat to who's up to doing them.
24:32They call it mission.
24:33They'll organize a spot to meet.
24:35So, in essence, these people, the offenders getting together, may have never met each other before.
24:39Nine?
24:40I think there's nine of them.
24:41Breaking the glass in the middle of the day.
24:43Yep.
24:44Detective Justin Schonaker shows us one of the most dramatic robberies Project Night Train investigated.
24:50He says the lack of connection between suspects makes identifying them even more of a challenge, especially because they move so fast.
24:58Now they're coming outside.
24:59As you can see, they're all holding bags, reusable shopping bags full of the stolen jewelry.
25:05What do you think when you see them start smashing away at the display cases?
25:10It's so disappointing.
25:11Like, it really is.
25:13This woman says her 16-year-old son is accused of taking part in multiple smashing grabs.
25:19I just don't think that he sees the severity of his charges.
25:28She's speaking exclusively to the Fifth Estate.
25:31As a minor in custody, the law does not allow her son to be named, and we cannot show you who she is in order to protect his identity.
25:39Do you have an idea of who was behind it?
25:41The police told me that there was a group of adults that were recruiting them.
25:47I don't know where they're meeting them.
25:50I don't know, like, I don't know if they're, you know, hanging out at, like, spots teenagers do.
25:59Is it at the mall?
26:00Like, I have no idea.
26:01What were these adults telling him and his friends?
26:06He said that he was approached by somebody who told him that he wanted to see, like, young teens make money and flourish.
26:19And he was like, this guy just wants us to, he wants to see us do better because, you know, there's not a lot of options for us.
26:27I told him that it sounded very predatory.
26:31He was told that, you know, they have insurance, right?
26:35So, like, it's a victimless crime.
26:39She says her son was promised money, at least $2,000, and told as a minor he would get off easy.
26:46The messaging, I guess, that he was told was that if he's under 18, he's a young offender.
26:56And if you're a young offender, then it just goes away once you become an adult.
27:00So none of it matters.
27:03Over in York Region, police are about to catch a break.
27:07All right, you take care. Okay, bye-bye.
27:10It's been a busy night here after news that Toronto police arrested three minors.
27:16I believe they were arrested for a shoplifting incident in Toronto.
27:20And through that arrest, our investigators became engaged.
27:24There was information that led us to believe that those offenders were likely related to our robbery series that we've been investigating this week.
27:31Since then, one of the investigators typed through the evening and was able to get a search warrant granted through a Justice of the Peace.
27:39So that search warrant allows us to go to a residence, that residence is in Toronto, and we're going to execute the search warrant.
27:45Three suspects come up with hammers.
27:47Wow.
27:48To help make the case for that search warrant, Detective Constable Matt Milroy says he poured over security camera footage,
27:55tying the suspects to one of the stolen vehicles police had been watching.
27:59They parked it near an apartment building in Toronto.
28:02From that video, we observed our suspects getting into a taxi.
28:06We were able to identify the taxi company, and then through the taxi company, found the trip records of where those suspects were driven to,
28:15which was an address in Toronto.
28:18So then we go to get video from that apartment building.
28:21So the video here is the taxi arriving with our suspects.
28:25That's them exiting?
28:26That's them exiting, and then they're going to enter the building.
28:28What do you expect to find or hope to find?
28:32So we're hoping to find evidence of the offence.
28:34So we're looking for clothing, any types of weapons, tools that may have used in the robberies, items that may have been taken during the robberies.
28:41Moments after officers arrived on the scene, another unexpected lead.
28:48We were told to hang back until they got inside.
28:51So this is the unit here that the investigators are in.
28:54The door's just cracked open.
28:55It sounds like they're explaining a few things to the occupant that's inside.
28:59I've been told that there's one male adult inside, and he's currently going to be arrested.
29:04So the officers are going to be removing the individual from the residence.
29:09He's under arrest right now for possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
29:13They've seized a significant amount of jewelry within the residence.
29:16How big of a deal is it that you not only found stolen merchandise, but yet another suspect?
29:33I mean, in this case, I think it's a great lead for our case.
29:38Not in every case do you recover amounts of stolen property.
29:42In this case, it certainly seems to be telling us that the property was destined for this location.
29:48Where it was going to go from here, I don't know.
29:51But it's certainly giving us that in-between point that we're always looking for.
29:56In that cruiser, a 19-year-old who now faces several charges related to a home invasion,
30:03possession of stolen vehicles, and a jewelry store robbery.
30:07And in this case, because he's the, it seems right now to be the only adult,
30:12do you think he might be playing a more senior role in any of these crimes?
30:16He certainly could be.
30:18And those are all angles that we'll be looking for as the investigation again unfolds.
30:22By no means is the investigation completed here today.
30:26Is there other people out there that we don't know of?
30:28So potentially your spider web might only get bigger?
30:31It certainly can, yes.
30:33There's a lot of emotion.
30:38This mother says she never expected her teenager would be facing robbery charges.
30:43I think that my son heard, you know, the treasure that awaited him and kind of got baited with that.
30:53What was the appeal you think?
30:56Money, freedom.
30:59They're going to be able to impress people and they're going to be able to wear certain clothes.
31:04People will say, where are their parents?
31:06They're watching horrifically from the sidelines.
31:13I think most parents want the best for their children.
31:19And I don't think the best involves any of this.
31:23As a parent, you're worried about them being bullied at school.
31:26And you're maybe worried about them doing drugs.
31:29You're typically not preparing yourself for them to be accused of a string of smashing grabs, right?
31:42We have a series of display boxes from a jewelry store.
31:46And we also have broken glass in the bottom of the bag.
31:50So that's a pretty telling piece of evidence for us.
31:54Back at York Police Headquarters, today's operation led to a surprise arrest and a trove of potential evidence
32:01that seems to tie back to those stolen cars police had been watching.
32:07So like here you can see glove marks.
32:12And while this investigation moves forward, a bigger, disturbing pattern is also emerging.
32:19Young suspects out on bail, re-offending.
32:23We're seeing the same players again and again and again.
32:27And you're seeing people re-victimized or new victims.
32:30And, you know, that part's hard to watch.
32:33And we're doing everything we can to lock them up.
32:35But they're right back out again.
32:38In Peel alone, 42% of the youths charged by the Central Robbery Bureau were breaching prior release conditions.
32:46If you look at the numbers, the numbers don't lie.
32:48We're not, the deterrent isn't there.
32:50So the messaging isn't there.
32:52And, you know, these repeat offenders and this cycle of violence that are occurring, it has to stop.
32:57There's a lot of people who are talking tough on bail reform.
33:00But do you think the answer is to lock kids up?
33:03Excellent question and a tough answer.
33:08When you look at the crime and the severity of the crime and the impact of the community and, you know, there should be a deterrent for violent crime.
33:17So we need to absolutely look at how do we get ahead of that with those community supports.
33:22But for those that are committing absolutely violent crime, they have to be held to account.
33:27Coming up.
33:28When you're directly investing in youth, you are preventing crime.
33:43Back at Jewelry Forever, after three attempted smashing grabs, Jerry Cerani and Joe Kasap are always on high alert.
33:50You're always like looking over your shoulder, per se, to do the business that you used to be doing comfortably.
33:58Now it's not comfortable anymore.
34:00We have all loyal customers, which always, you know, coming back.
34:03Yeah.
34:04But definitely it affects the food traffic.
34:05The food traffic, yeah.
34:06Definitely it took that away.
34:07If somebody comes in with the hoodie, sunglasses, you're not coming in.
34:11At least you have a little bit of that little power because you have the doors locked.
34:15If I have, let's say, six, seven young kids, guys want to come in at the same time.
34:20Not at the same time.
34:21Unfortunately, we're not going to come in.
34:22That's probably one of the biggest things you can do to prevent these from happening in the first place, is being able to control entry.
34:28Look at your exterior, understand how they can get in and either mitigate for your windows and your doors.
34:35I think having something to protect your front glass windows is a great idea, whether you're using film, laminate glass or polycarbonate.
34:44And then inside, you want to look at some sort of security glass on your display cases, if possible, or limit the amount of jewelry that you actually leave out.
34:56So if you are victimized, there's less that they're able to take.
35:00We were wondering if we could get a battery replaced.
35:02Of course, yeah, of course.
35:03Cerani and Kasab say they have been at this location for 17 years.
35:07They've never had to be this careful.
35:09And they're not sure how much longer they can stay in business.
35:12Okay, pleasure to meet you again.
35:13The insurance just keeps going to go up and up.
35:15And for me to pay $5,000 a month now, because if you have incidents, it's going to be $10,000 a month.
35:23Third incident happened, fourth incident happened, insurance companies say, sorry, I cannot even insure you anymore.
35:29And when that happened, how am I going to run my business?
35:33In fact, remember that third robbery attempt on their store?
35:37It's part of that sprawling series of violent crimes we tracked with York police.
35:42And how do you feel that the June attack was connected to a string of other incidents?
35:47There is no consequences when there's no punishment.
35:51The laws has changed for this to kind of come to a stop.
35:57What we need to do is scrap liberal bail.
36:00There's something broken when there is a revolving door in our justice system, particularly around bail.
36:06If people that are committing crimes are seeing a justice system that's not holding them accountable, that creates opportunity for more crime.
36:16Rising calls led the federal government to announce a sweeping bail reform bill this fall.
36:22It would toughen sentencing and make bail harder to get, especially for violent and repeat offenders.
36:28And now they would have to prove to the court why they should be granted bail, instead of the onus being on the Crown to prove why they shouldn't.
36:36We're making bail stricter to keep you safer.
36:40You're focusing on the wrong thing.
36:42We need to be investing in our youth and investing in our youth's future.
36:48Carla Bailey is the executive director of My Neighborhood Services, which runs out of this community hub in Mississauga.
36:56It has given thousands of young people a place to go and always something to eat.
37:01We ensure that food is in every single one of our youth programs.
37:07And are you hearing that people might be making those decisions because they need money for food?
37:12What are you hearing?
37:13There's a lot of different things.
37:14There's the food, the social media, what's going on.
37:17There is the wanting to fit in.
37:20There's the friends.
37:22There's the siblings.
37:24You can't just put one thing and say, this is what's causing it.
37:29Right?
37:30What's the most common crime committed by youth in Canada?
37:35Okay.
37:36Yeah, so it's under 5,000.
37:39That's the most common crime.
37:41Again, there's no judgment in this room, but we also have to respect everyone.
37:45Prevention is the goal behind many of their programs here.
37:48And they start early, as young as middle school.
37:51We have mental health programs that will say, okay, what is it that we can help you with that supports this need?
38:04How can we help you to do better?
38:10Still there are gaps, and she's trying to close them.
38:15Bailey's organization also helps young offenders get back on track.
38:19When we look at our youth justice reintegration program, that program, it is supposed to serve 60 youths.
38:35Last year, it served 220 youths.
38:40What does that tell you?
38:42We all know prevention is so much better than cure.
38:46But we get to reintegrate them into society, give them the tools to succeed, to not re-offend.
38:56Have you guys been as busy since we left?
38:59It has been, yes.
39:00It hasn't really slowed at all.
39:02A few months after we first met with York Police, we went back to speak to the head of its hold-up unit, Detective Sergeant Ryan Boulay.
39:09We've had an uptick in home invasions this year.
39:12Okay.
39:13We're also trending up in our jewelry store robberies.
39:15He told us the unit has added four new officers to investigate yet another spike in violent robberies.
39:22I'll tell you that in 2023 to 2024, we've seen our jewelry store robberies increase roughly 133%.
39:29And in 2025, we're trending upwards of that number that we've seen last year as kind of our, you know, five-year high.
39:36What do you make of that?
39:38I mean, it's disturbing that it seems every time we make an arrest or an occurrence happens, another one seems to follow it.
39:45And that's not just, you know, strictly to York Region.
39:48We're seeing that across the Greater Toronto Area.
39:51And getting to the people calling the shots is still a challenge.
39:55In a lot of cases, they're not willing to provide, you know, if you want to call it statements as to who had sent them there, who orchestrated it.
40:03And I'd imagine a lot of time that's fear of retaliation, right?
40:06You speak to the police, you're known as a rat and you're going to essentially, you know, you may not be in that good of a place when you get released from custody.
40:14How worried are you if there is no intervention?
40:16Certainly, if there's no intervention, I would be willing to bet that there's really no positive outlook that's going to come for adults.
40:24with those offenders.
40:26At the end of the day, we as the police, like we get it.
40:28We need help as well to combat these types of crimes, especially when we're seeing such young offenders.
40:34The home invasion case we told you about ended with convictions, including one for a young offender.
40:41But that night still haunts the family.
40:43It just felt very violating because it happened in our own house.
40:48Like at night when I go to sleep, I can't close my eyes.
40:52I feel like if I close them and then I feel like they're standing right there at the doorway because that's when they stormed up.
40:59And that's when that's when we first saw them.
41:02You didn't get a chance to talk to them.
41:04But if you did, what would you say to them?
41:06So I wanted to ask why you did this, what motivated you, and then see what you have done.
41:17Do you think you're proud of what you have done?
41:20How far can they go doing this?
41:24This cannot take you far.
41:27Constantly wonder if it's the right decision for him, if it's the right decision for the rest of my family.
41:34This mother is afraid for her son's safety and his future, and it forced her to make a tough choice.
41:41Where is your son right now?
41:43He's in the detention center.
41:45And why is he still in the detention center?
41:47Because I am not bailing him out.
41:49I don't think that bailing him out is what is going to support him.
42:01He would learn outside with the same group of people that he got arrested with.
42:08I think overall, unfortunately, he is safer there.
42:16Is that your hope? That it will deter? That bail reform will deter?
42:22I do hope bail reform helps.
42:25Because until there's somebody able to kind of push back, I think, at the people telling them, like, you'll get money, but go and do this for me.
42:36Because if I do it, I get 15 years. If you do it, you get to go home to your mom.
42:42I don't think the adults are going to stop using kids, you know?
42:48It's also, like, really pathetic. To use a child for financial gain, it's pretty sickening.
42:56I'm Stephen D'Souza. Next week on The Fifth Estate.
43:15We're on St. Mary's Bay in Nova Scotia, the richest part of Canada's billion-dollar lobster industry where there's a war on the water.
43:25Go home. You go home, lady.
43:27Intimidation and frequent threats of violence.
43:32Places burning down, windows getting smashed in, houses being shot up, people getting shot at.
43:38You hear stories that's a little lawless sometimes around rural Nova Scotia.
43:41The fight over who gets to fish here has left communities bitter and divided.
43:46We're not pirates. We're not the villains.
43:48Does racism play a role here, do you think?
43:50Uh, no.
43:53A dispute with roots older than Canada itself.
43:56Love's not going anywhere. It's been around for a very long time.
44:00We look at who's cashing in on the chaos.
44:03I'm sick of it. There's nothing to do with conservation. It's just, it's total greed.
44:07We're going anywhere to see you in bed.
44:10That's next week on The Fifth Estate.
44:15Want more Fifth Estate? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.
44:19Be among the first to know about our upcoming investigations and get behind-the-scenes details you can't find anywhere else.
44:26Head to our website, cbc.ca slash fifth to subscribe.
44:56That's right, so for now.
44:57need to have a clear meeting now that we can peace with you.
44:58Leave a Marie, or she may stay in bed.
44:59Neces is a journey with a negative accountability of the foundation for Aw consolidation.
45:01Captioned by in the Peace One, Grand SοιA UK.
45:02We'll be safe here, because we'll get our meetingểm of a
45:13covid pequeno.
45:15If we have the night, our59?
45:16We'll be staying in therine.
45:17We'll be the first to know about this new window.
45:20We'll be there before.
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