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Thief runs off with $2,500 crucifix necklace

Garo Yanikyan has been a jeweler in Okotoks for more than 30 years, but relentless theft over the last five years is leaving a heavy toll. Yanikyan owns Wild Rose Jewelry on Elizabeth Street and said thieves are constantly targeting his business.

Garo Yanikyan has been a jeweler in Okotoks for more than 30 years, but relentless theft over the last five years is leaving a heavy toll.

Yanikyan owns Wild Rose Jewelry on Elizabeth Street and said thieves are constantly targeting his business.

In the latest incident on July 15 a man walked in and was asking to look at some pieces, Yanikyan said.

“He came in asked for prices and told me his stories,” he said. “He said he would go to talk to his wife about it and came back 15 minutes later. I asked how he was paying and he ran out.”

Garo pursued the man, but lost him when he went in an alley behind Elma Street.

Garo’s daughter, Natasha Yanikyan also works at the store, and said this is the latest in a string of thefts.

“It happens every six months,” she said.

The first time the store was hit was in November 2011. That time thieves smashed in the front door with crowbars and made off with between $160,000 to $170,000 worth of jewelry.

Natasha said since that break in there have been a relentless barrage of thefts, break-ins and break-in attempts.

“From Dec. 23 to Jan. 13 they tried to get into our stores three times,” she said. “They try to come through walls, the ceiling, glass doors, but they can’t get in.”

Over the past five years Wild Rose jewelry has had two significant thefts and numerous attempts. In 2014 thieves made off with $10,000 of jewelry by going through the wall of an empty business next door. In 2015, $15,000 of jewels were stolen from their display cases.

Natasha said their insurance does not cover very much of their losses.

“If it continues to happen we don’t know,” she said. “There is a time where we close our doors.”

They have installed more and more security over the years, including steel plates along the outside walls of the store, steel bars, panic buttons and security cameras.

Garo said the next step is to only allow customers in with a buzzer system, or install a second set of doors that he can lock from the sales counter, trapping thieves inside.

Natasha said it’s a shame they have to keep adding all these security features to their store.

“It takes away that small town feel that we like,” she said.

Police are looking for a slender Caucasian male with a blond shaved head. The suspect appeared to be about five feet, 11 inches tall to six feet tall and was wearing a red jacket with a white stripe on the right shoulder and black pants and black sneakers with white soles. He had a tattoo on his right hand of a skull with some words or script under the skull.

Anyone with information can call the Okotoks RCMP at 403-995-6400 or can give an anonymous tip by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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