Armed men rob jewellery store in middle of day in downtown Helsinki
Police apprehend two suspects
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The Oskar Lindroos jewellery store on Helsinki's Aleksanterinkatu was robbed at 11.40 a.m. on Wednesday. Four men entered the store threatening the four sales assistants with a handgun. After breaking the doors to the cabinets, the young men stole around 40 valuable watches.
No shots were fired in the shop, and nobody was hurt during the incident. In addition to the staff, two customers were present during the heist.
After grabbing the watches, the robbers rushed out and fled along Aleksanterinkatu in pairs, heading in oppposite directions.
Police rapidly cordoned off the surroundings of the jewellery store, causing a five-minute interruption in the tram traffic along Aleksanterinkatu.
A large crowd of people remained standing on the other side of the street observing the incident, which involved a number of police officers, security guards, and cars.
Police started a search operation with a number of checks on various places in downtown Helsinki as well as in the harbours.
Two men were captured shortly afterwards, and their connections with the robbery are being investigated. "Nobody has been taken into custody as yet", said Detective Inspector Mauri Salomaa early yesterday evening.
One of the men was caught at about 12.35 p.m. next to the Kaisaniemi Park behind the Main Railway Station. According to some eye witnesses, about twenty police officers were present, four of them armed with assault rifles. Also two police dogs were assisting the officers. Another man was caught in Helsinki's Katajanokka Harbour.
At least two suspects were at large still on Wednesday evening.
According to Manager Lars Carlander of Oskar Lindroos, the value of the stolen watches is over EUR 200,000.
"Our inventories were full as we were prepared for Christmas sales. We have insurance, but we will suffer damage nonetheless, as we cannot sell the watches. A large part of our watches have been stolen, and some of the remaining ones have been damaged, having scratches, for example", reported Carlander vexedly.
"According to my staff, the perpetrators were foreigners", said Carlander who himself was not present during the robbery.
The same Lindroos jewellery store has been robbed three times during the last two years. Five Estonian men were convicted of holding up the store in March 2005.
Police are investigating whether or not Wednesday's robbery has a connection with the incident in March.
"These robberies appear to be very similar", noted Salomaa.
According to the Finnish news agency STT, the apprehended men are of Estonian origin.
Police are continuing to investigate the incident as an aggravated robbery, and all information concerning the perpetrators should be forwarded to the team on the following telephone numbers: (09) 189 5464 during office hours, and (09) 189 4740 outside office hours.
The robbery at the Oskar Lindroos jewellery shop on Wednesday is the fourth big jewellery heist in Helsinki this year.
Among earlier crimes, last February's robbery at the Faber Art jewellery store on Helsinki's Korkeavuorenkatu still remains unsolved. The haul worth several hundreds of thousands euros was probably an all-time record in Finland.
The A. Tillander jewellery store on Aleksanterinkatu was robbed in a "ram-raid" attack on October 20th. The perpetrators drove through the display window early in the morning and took jewellery worth tens of thousands of euros. Part of the haul is still missing. Two young Finnish men were remanded in custody and are awaiting trial.
However, according to Kari Tolvanen, the head of the violent crimes unit of Helsinki Police, the number of shop and bank robberies has decreased compared with previous years. No actual bank robberies have taken place.
"This is a result of improved security systems in banks", notes Tolvanen.
"Today robberies are commited in the city centre and in broad daylight, whereas previously heists occurred in more remote places with fewer people around", Tolvanen reported.
Recently also several youngsters were charged with street robberies and muggings involving dozens of victims.
"In October, police launched a new project by transferring the investigation of robberies to the violent crimes unit. This has clearly increased the efficiency of investigations into such street crime. However, police can give only first aid. The best way to prevent crimes would be cooperation between the representatives of immigrants, social welfare authorities, and the parents of youngsters", Tolvanen concludes.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 15.12.2005 - TODAY |
 Armed men rob jewellery store in middle of day in downtown Helsinki |
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