Arrest made in Winnipeg jewelry heist worth $156K

A cross-Canada investigation spanning has netted Winnipeg police an arrest in a two-year-old jewelry heist worth more than $150,000.

A 40-year-old B.C. man is facing multiple charges including theft over $5,000 after a Winnipeg jewelry store was ripped off in 2012.

According to police, a group of several women and men went into a jewelry store on Ellice Avenue in January 2012 and asked to see some jewelry.

Police said at the same time a woman who knew the group went to an office at the rear of the store.

When the large group left, the store clerk noticed more than $156,000 worth of jewelry and cash had been stolen.

With the help of both the Montreal Police Service and the Vancouver Police Department, Winnipeg police tracked down a suspect.

The man was found in Surrey, B.C. and sent back to Winnipeg on Aug. 11.

Now, more than two years after the crime was first reported, charges have been laid against a 40-year-old man.

Winnipeg police have also charged him in connection with a food store robbery worth about $1,100.