Less than 24 hours after a brazen day-time robbery at a Birks Jewellery store in Pointe Claire, police have taken a man into custody.
A 19-year-old was arrested early Sunday morning at his parents' home in Laval.
Police are still looking for three other suspects and a large amount of jewellery.
The suspects pepper-sprayed their way through Birks, smashed glass displays, and then fled the shopping centre.
One sharp-eyed shopper notice the white getaway car and took down the licence number.
"Not only did we get a licence plate number, but we also got a good description of the man that was driving," said Montreal police spokesperson Yannick Ouimet.
Baffled investigators could not believe their luck when they found out that a suspect in such a carefully planned robbery had actually used his father's car.
So, at 7 a.m. Sunday, Montreal Police raided the family's duplex on Shorecrest Ave. in Chomedey, where the suspect lived with his parents.
"He didn't have time to resist he was surprised by the presence of police officers at his house," said Ouimet.
George Kordos witnessed the police operation with his mother, Peggy Sarantopoulos.
"There were two cars, one of them was a cop car, and they were blocking off the car from leaving," he said.
"I heard about the Birks robbery and when they opened the trunk of the car I heard one of [the police officers] say, 'Yeah, we found the stuff in the back of the car,'" added Sarantopoulos.
Though they found incriminating evidence connecting the suspect to the crime, police have not yet recovered any of the stolen jewellery.
Police said they were not surprised the stolen goods were not at the family home, but they hope the suspect will reveal information about his alleged collaborators during questioning.
As for the young suspect's family members, they were all cleared of any wrong-doing by police.
The young man's father told CTV he was surprised and saddened that his son could have been involved in an armed robbery, suggesting his son had fallen in with the wrong crowd after beginning CEGEP.
