Suspect nabbed in break & enters
Mounties announced Tuesday they’ve made an arrest in connection with two high-profile business break-and-enters earlier this month in Penticton.
The first break-in occurred early on March 13 at The Bike Barn, from which two bicycles, worth approximately $9,000, and 50 to 60 pairs of high-end Oakley sunglasses were taken.
Then, early on March 28, someone got into the Three Gables Liquor Store by going through the floor of an abandoned rooming house above and made off with 500 packages of cigarettes.
Police came up with a suspect and vehicle linked to both crimes, and made an arrest March 29, according to Const. Chad Campbell of the Penticton RCMP Targeted Enforcement Unit. He said the suspect was nabbed in his truck, inside which officers allegedly found 30 packages of cigarettes.
Police then executed a search warrant on the suspect’s Van Horne Street home, inside which they allegedly found another 130 packages of cigarettes, 50 pairs of Oakley sunglasses, many with The Bike Barn tags still attached, plus the two missing bikes.
Daryk Reinders, 39, has been charged with two counts of break-and-enter and four counts of possession of stolen property. He spent the weekend behind bars awaiting a bail hearing today.
Campbell said he believes the suspect intended to sell the sunglasses, but may have had difficulty moving them because they retail for upwards of $300 per pair.
Police also suspect the missing 340 packages of cigarettes were sold on the black market.
“He was actively offloading them very quick,” Campbell said.
Reinders has a lengthy criminal record. In 2010, he was sentenced to 25 months in prison for robbing a Penticton pharmacy at knifepoint.