Arctic Jewellers, a jewelry shop located in Centre Square Mall, experienced another theft on Oct. 25 around 1:30 a.m.
“I felt unsafe here in Yellowknife,” said Hau Huynh, owner of Arctic Jewellers. “I’ve been in this business here (for) 22 to 23 years, never have happened like that before.”
Huynh has everything recorded on his security camera, which shows that the thief broke the main door of the shop, setting off the alarm.
“They are being smart, everything seems happened really fast. They think they want to have everything done within two minutes because the police station is not far away (from here).” Huynh said. “I was shocked! It’s like a movie.”
He said the jewelry and watches in the showcase at the front of the store were all stolen. He told Yellowknifer the value of the items taken is probably in the range of $9,000 to $11,000.
The business was established in 1999. Huynh’s family, originally from Vietnam, previously started a jewelry business in Vancouver.
Years later, Huynh told his family he was ready to become independent and start a business in Yellowknife by himself.
Arctic Jewellers was targetted by a thief several weeks ago too.
“My family did not press charges for the first robbery, as we thought that (the culprit) needed it more than us; to go out of his way and target a family-run business.” said Huynh’s daughter on a Facebook post, but following the second such crime within two months, Huynh is going through the legal process.
RCMP arrived at the scene shortly after the alarm. Huynh turned over the security camera footage to the officers, along with other clues.
Yellowknifer tried to contact the Yellowknife RCMP detachment with questions, but didn’t receive a response as of Thursday at noon.
—By Kaicheng Xin