Police seek suspects who stole thousands of dollars in jewelry from Nanaimo-area store

Nanaimo RCMP are investigating an early morning break-in at a Lantzville retail store, where thieves made off with thousands of dollars in jewelry.

Around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, thieves broke into Keller’s Jewellers at 7190 Lantzville Rd., according to RCMP.

Mounties say the suspects, who were captured on CCTV camera, destroyed the front door before stealing the jewelry from display cases.

RCMP had responded to a report of a glass break alarm and, once on scene, found the front door smashed open and a “significant amount” of jewelry missing from inside the store.

According to police, the property owner was on scene and shared CCTV footage with investigators. The video showed three suspects with their faces covered, and they were wearing gloves.

The trio was seen inside the business before fleeing in a dark green or black older model pickup truck, say RCMP in a news release.

Shortly after the break-in, the same vehicle was spotted driving erratically through Lantzville. It was last seen turning southbound from Superior Road onto Highway 19 Nanaimo bound.

The owners of Keller’s took to social media following the theft, saying the store would be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.

“We will be closed today (Feb. 21) and tomorrow,” they wrote in the Facebook post, which also included photos of shattered glass display cases.

Keller’s Jewellers, around since the 1960s, was previously robbed in 2017.

“Please don’t worry if we are working on any of your jewelry, it is absolutely safe with us…If possible, please allow us a few extra days from when we said your items would be ready to allow us to deal with pressing matters,” the owners added.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding…”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP’s non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.

READ ALSO: $20K in jewelry stolen from West Shore store: ‘Grabbed the necklaces and ran’

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