'Not going to happen': Markham jewelry store owner fights off robbers with broomstick

When three masked individuals entered Jewellery Forever and started smashing a display case, Jerry Sorani knew he had to defend the store he has owned for the last 16 years. So, he grabbed a nearby broomstick.

“As soon as I saw like mask and hoodie and covering (in the) face, I knew it right away what was going on,” Sorani recounted to CTV News Toronto.

“It’s not going to happen while I’m here. I’m not going to sit down and watch you break my case, showcases, and take things.”

The encounter was captured on the Markham store’s surveillance video and was posted on its Instagram page earlier this week.

In the video, Sorani comes out of the corner holding a broom, swinging it at the individuals.

Two suspects are seen immediately running out the door while the third one, who was busy smashing the glass case with a hammer, tries to fight back.

After hitting him several times with the broomstick, the third suspect also runs off.

“Nothing,” Sorani said, when asked if the suspects ever got anything from his store. “He just got a little bit of beating.”

He noted his display cases are laminated, making it hard to break.

Jewellery Forever is located inside CF Markville, a mall in the area of McCowan Road and Highway 7, where another jewelry store was the target of a smash-and-grab robbery in December.

Police said a total of 12 people were involved in that incident. In recent months, police services across the Greater Toronto Area have seen an increase in jewelry store robberies, concerning many owners.

Sorani said he had never experienced anything like what happened that day.

“You always had just grab and run. But nothing like that---coming inside, especially inside the mall, to smash and to that degree,” he said.

Following the incident, Sorani decided to keep the doors locked, which he said affected his business.

“(We) rely on foot traffic and a lot of customers don’t feel comfortable either when they come in and they see the doors locked,” he said.

He noted that his decision to confront the robbers was a no brainer, but adds it is something he doesn’t want to do again.

“The law has to change, because we can’t do business like this, and it’s all the same kind of age bracket doing this because they know there’s really no real consequences,” Sorani said.

“As long as that fear is not there, this is going to be keep happening and happening.”