‘It happened so fast’: Senior has sentimental gold chain stolen in distraction theft

Police say distraction thefts happen most often in the summer when people are more likely to be outside.

A Mississauga, Ont., man told CTV News he was approached in a parking lot and had a gold chain worth thousands of dollars stolen from around his neck.

“She said ‘I’m giving you this for free,’” said Vijaya Vikrant.

Vikrant said it was in July when he was parked outside a grocery store and a woman approached him. He said she told him she was celebrating a birthday by handing out free jewelry.

That’s when he said she put a gold-style chain around his neck.

“She put it around my neck and closed the hook,” said Vikrant.

Moments later, he said he realized the woman had removed the real gold chain he was wearing. Vikrant said it was worth thousands of dollars and had sentimental value.

“The chain itself is 60 to 70 years old and was given to me by my father.”

He said what he received from the woman was made of cheap plastic and looked like it came from a dollar store.

“It happened so fast actually I could not believe myself,” said Vikrant.

Vikrant was the victim of a distraction theft.

Distraction thefts happen when diversions are used to steal valuables like a wallet or cellphone, and in some cases jewelry.

Police say those types of thefts happen the most in the summer when people are more likely to be outside.

Recently, York Regional Police (YRP) laid charges in a case where a 78-year-old woman received serious injuries after her jewelry was taken and a struggle resulted in her getting knocked to the ground.

“This lady (the suspect) gets back into the vehicle and the woman looks down and sees she basically has this junk jewelry left behind,” said YRP Const. Lisa Moskaluk.

Police add that many distraction thefts appear to part of a network of organized criminals in Canada illegally practicing criminal tourism.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the people we arrest are not Canadian citizens or have not arrived here lawfully,” said Moskaluk.

Police say as well as parking lots, distraction thefts are also happening at post office boxes and outside retirement homes.

Vikrant said he had planned to hand down his gold chain to his son, something he said he can no longer do.

“Be careful if someone comes up to you and tries to give you something. I feel really bad,” he said.