Vancouver Police have made two arrests and recovered almost $90,000 in rare and unique jewellery taken in a pair of break-ins to an antique store in the South Granville neighbourhood, but continue to look for the remaining stolen items.
Shortly before 5:00 a.m. on March 6th a person broke into Panache Antiques located on Granville Street near 7th Avenue and stole a number of pieces of jewellery. Police were called after the alarm was triggered, but were unable to locate a suspect during a search by officers with the help of two dogs.
On March 21st, the store was the victim of a second break-in. This crime also took place at about 5:00 in the morning and resulted in the theft of almost $90,000 worth of jewellery. Three people were captured on video surveillance. They were in the store for less than one minute and had run off before police arrived.
Investigators identified two possible suspects, one man and one woman, and determined where the pair was living. A search warrant was obtained and executed at the couple’s apartment located in Vancouver’s West End at 9:30 a.m. on April 13th.
Police located evidence during the search, including most of the stolen items taken in the second break-in, linking the two suspects to both crimes.
Crown has approved charges of break-and-enter, possession of stolen property, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of identity documents and identity theft against 48-year-old Michael Dean Hutchinson. He is a well-known prolific property crime offender with hundreds of police contacts and dozens of convictions. He remains in custody until his next court appearance on May 9th.
Hutchinson’s co-accused, 44-year-old Samantha Raymond, has already pled guilty to identity theft, possession of identity documents and possession of stolen property. She has been released pending her sentencing hearing.
There is still about $60,000 worth of stolen merchandise taken from the March 6th break-in that was not located and remains unaccounted for. One of those items is described as an imperial yellow and gold ring with emperor’s seal and dragon. It is a rare item valued at approximately $7,800 and is from the 1700s.
Anyone with information about either of these crimes or the whereabouts of the missing property is asked to call the Vancouver Police at 604-717-9183 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
