‘It was pretty comical’: Cape Breton jewelry store break-in foiled by smoke machine

A video of an attempted robbery at a Cape Breton store recently went viral online.

A pair of thieves who smashed through the front door of a Sydney River, N.S., jewelry store in broad daylight had their plan foiled after the business’ smoke machine was activated.

“They did seem like they had a plan coming in,” said Sarah Jane Wilson, store manager at Joy Jewellers in the Keltic shopping plaza.

The plans changed pretty quickly, however, once the pair got inside and a smoke machine went off around 7 a.m. Friday, engulfing the store with smoke.

The machine had been purchased by the store owner a few years ago. It went off at the same time as the store alarms — leaving the suspects scrambling for the exit.

The entire break-in — lasting about 45 seconds — was caught on surveillance video and shared by store management to social media.

“It was pretty comical, because we’ve experienced it,” Wilson said of the smoke machine’s effects. “We’ve tested our smoke machines, so we know what visibility is like. There is no visibility.”

Store owner Glenn Tutty says after an armed robbery five years ago, he decided to install the machine called a “Smoke Cloak.”

He also noted that last week, a story aired on CTV News about a jewelry store in Ancaster, Ont., whose owners installed a similar security measure after a violent break-and-enter in December 2024.

Tutty said four items, which he described as being relatively low in value, were taken and a glass case was damaged but added it will all be covered by insurance.

He said he has also received plenty of feedback about the store’s security measures and their video, which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

“I think it’s in excess of 150,000 people since Friday suppertime,” Tutty said of the video’s social media views.

CTV Atlantic reached out to the Cape Breton Regional Police for an update on the search for suspects, but did not hear back by Tuesday’s broadcast deadline.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page