Mall Jewel Robber Who Shot At Police And Carjacked Two Women Sentenced
Posted June 10, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was like something out of a movie, involving a jewel heist at a major GTA mall, a dramatic chase and gun battle on a city street, a carjacking and some little kids who had to scramble not to get caught in the crossfire.
The man who caused all that chaos will now have five years to think about his actions. He’s been put away in prison for the brazen daylight escapade.
It happened almost exactly two years ago on a quiet June 11th afternoon in 2007, when a man walked into a jewellery store in the Promenade Mall near Bathurst and Centre Sts. in Vaughan.
He brandished a weapon, scooped up some valuable gems and fled, with police in hot pursuit. They chased him to a playground at a nearby day school, where little kids were outside for gym class. A quick thinking teacher spotted trouble heading their way and quickly gathered the youngsters and got them back inside.
The suspect wound up hiding behind a garbage container and used it as cover to start shooting at cops, before taking off running again, winding up at Rodeo Dr., a residential road across the street from the mall.
That’s where he spotted two women wondering why a police helicopter was hovering overhead. He took them by surprise and ordered them into a van, which sped off, heading towards Highway 7 and Keele. When he lost control of the vehicle, cops finally brought the lengthy siege to a halt, freeing the women and recovering a pellet gun and $300,000 worth of stolen jewels.
Quincy Cave pleaded guilty to a range of serious charges last month and has now received his sentence for the outrageous crimes – nine years in jail. He was given credit for several years of pre-trial custody and will still have to serve another five behind bars.
When he gets out, the 31-year-old faces a lifetime ban on owning weapons, a three year driving suspension and he has to give authorities a DNA sample.
Cops are amazed no one was hurt in the bizarre chain of events and credit quick thinking citizens and good police work for an outcome that could have been very different.
