A jewelry-theft ring that hit stores from West Vancouver to Calgary has ended with guilty pleas, after a multi-jurisdictional investigation traced the suspects to Chilliwack.
Adam and Maria Caldarar pleaded guilty to theft charges stemming from offences in Vancouver, West Vancouver, and North Vancouver, and remain in custody. The charges — theft over $5,000 and theft under $5,000 — follow a months-long investigation by the Vancouver Police Department’s Retail Crime Task Force into what investigators described as a foreign organized retail crime group.
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The pair were arrested in Chilliwack on March 4, 2026, after investigators confirmed their identities and tracked them there.
The investigation, which began after VPD task force investigators were alerted to a pattern of distraction thefts at Vancouver jewelry stores in December 2025, ultimately identified 12 related offences committed between August 2025 and February 2026.
The incidents stretched across communities including West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Kamloops, Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Hope, and Revelstoke, with one additional offence in Calgary. More than $90,000 in jewelry was taken in total.
Distraction theft typically involves one or more suspects diverting a store employee’s attention while an accomplice steals merchandise.
The VPD task force worked with police agencies in Kamloops, Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Hope, and Revelstoke throughout the investigation, helping each jurisdiction advance its own case toward charge approval.
