BRIDGETOWN BUSINESS OWNER DISCOURAGED BY REPEAT BREAK-INS
Bridgetown break-ins leaves business owner feeling violated and discouraged
Jennifer D’aubin of Temple on Queen in Bridgetown is just about at her wit’s end. The wedding, catering, entertainment and food venue was broken into as many as five times between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15.
The first time a small amount of cash and alcohol was taken. The second time, an ipad was stolen. A couple of other times entry wasn’t gained, but it was obvious somebody tried.
On Aug. 15, D’aubin arrived a few minutes prior to an arranged 9:45 a.m. media interview about the break-ins to discover – you guessed it – the old brick provincial heritage building appeared to have been broken into yet again.
She said it’s discouraging. D’aubin texted police as she surveyed the building from the inside. A door upstairs was open that is always closed. A lock on the front door that can only be locked from the inside was locked. The was cause for concern considering that the only other entry is the back door, which was screwed shut after a previous break-in.
D’aubin and a friend had to use power tools to get in through that back door to get inside and unlock the front door. She said this made for the third time that the building had been unlawfully entered.
“Five times that I know they’ve been here and they’ve been tampering,” she said.
“But those other two times they didn’t actually get in.”
RCMP investigating
While D’aubin has taken various measures to protect the property, the RCMP are asking the public to keep their eyes open and are advising property owners to do a few key things to make their homes and businesses impervious to thieves.
“We want people to be more aware,” said Const. Cheryl Ponee. “If they see a suspicious vehicle or a suspicious person in the area, no matter how minor it may seem to them, report it to us because that could be the key in solving the case or the breakand-enter.”
She said if citizens see a vehicle parked at a weird hour of the night, or somebody walking by with their hood up through a local business in the wee hours of the morning, they should be reporting it to the RCMP.
“We had break-ins to local businesses last week, and those cases are still being investigated and ongoing, so we’re asking the public if they have any information about the recent break-ins in Bridgetown at the Legion, at the pub (Temple on Queen) to come forth to the RCMP,” Ponee said in an interview Aug. 14.
Trying to grow
D’aubin said the first breakin attempt at Temple was on a Wednesday night. They pulled a screen out of a back window and broke the mechanism off one of the windows.
“To our knowledge they didn’t get in that time,” said D’aubin.
“What’s being taken from these businesses is small amounts of cash and alcohol, so we feel maybe perpetrators are doing this that are coming in and out on foot versus a vehicle because they’re not taking any big ticket items,” said Ponee.
D’aubin said there are a myriad of emotions in connection to the numerous break-ins.
“I’m (angry) just because it’s a violation. I’m also discouraged because – I don’t know if people realize – we’re not sitting here on a pile of money. Cindy (Macdonald) and I put the time and effort into this building. We’re upstairs painting the floors. We’re upstairs sweating our arses off trying to get things finished and renovated and all that kind of stuff. It’s just discouraging. We’re literally working to try and make something of this.”
Theft prevention
“We’ve had some other thefts, items left in people’s yards or from an unlocked shed, so we’re asking people to be a little bit more aware,” said Ponee in reference to break-ins in Bridgetown and elsewhere in the county.
“If they’re going away for a period of time (we’re asking them) to make their home safe by maybe installing cameras, just simple things like removing flyers from their front door, proper locks, leaving some lights on, keeping the landscaping maintained, having the neighbours check in on the property. All these things will make it look like they’re still at home even though they’re away.”
Anyone with any information on break-ins should contact the RCMP at 902-665-4481 in Bridgetown or 902-825-2000 in Middleton.