![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Toronto-Premium-Outlets-robbery-1024x561.png\")
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nHalton police say organized pickpocket crews have been targeting shoppers at Toronto Premium Outlets, stealing dozens of phones, wallets and bags in what investigators describe as fast, coordinated distraction thefts. <\/p>\n
Police say 45 thefts have been reported at the Halton Hills mall so far this year, many involving groups working together to distract victims before slipping phones out of pockets or bags. Since November 2025, more than 70 cell phones have been reported stolen.<\/p>\n
On March 22, officers responded to a report that two suspects had stolen a shopper\u2019s phone around 4:55 p.m. Police located and arrested both individuals shortly after.<\/p>\n
A 35\u2011year\u2011old Toronto man has been charged with theft under $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000. A 33\u2011year\u2011old woman from Montreal is also charged with theft under $5,000.<\/p>\n
Police release video showing how thieves operate<\/p>\n
Investigators have now released security video from an April 11 incident, hoping the public can help identify three additional suspects.<\/p>\n
In the video, three suspects enter the store together and follow two women as they browse. One man picks up a pair of track pants, walks behind the victim and reaches into her jacket pocket, pulling out her phone and hiding it behind the clothing. He then discards the pants and walks out.<\/p>\n
A second man uses clothing from a rack to block the victim\u2019s view, while a woman appears to act as a lookout.<\/p>\n
Investigators say these thefts are typically carried out by two or more people who watch for shoppers using their phones.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese incidents happen incredibly fast,\u201d police said, adding that the groups are highly coordinated.<\/p>\n
Anyone with information about the suspects in the April 11 video is asked to contact Halton police.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tPolice say 45 thefts have been reported at the Halton Hills mall so far this year, many involving groups working together to distract victims before slipping phones out of pockets or bags. Photo: Halton police. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Halton police say organized pickpocket crews have been targeting shoppers at Toronto Premium Outlets, stealing dozens of phones,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-625702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}