Battery break-in
Champion’s stock cleaned out by burglars
MANAGEMENT AND employees were left in shock yesterday morning after they opened shutters to the Champion Battery and Windshield Repairs on Constant Spring Road, only to find the place broken into and ransacked by thieves.
Manager Kaydia McKoy said the criminals apparently gained entry to the building by cutting through a grille on the roof. They then broke through another grille to the reception area before entering the main office and a metal safe that was kept there.
“The staff just came here only to realise that the place was broken into: batteries gone, testers, the whole place upside down. The safe was upside down, money gone, everything that was of value was gone,” said McKoy, noting that late yesterday morning, management was still trying to ascertain exactly how much booty the crooks made off with.
“They took about 60 batteries: car batteries, truck batteries, BMW batteries, and one of those batteries can cost upwards of $20,000. They gone with even the office keys,” she said, adding that customers have been unable to get service as some key equipment were also stolen from the premises.
“We definitely have to change the locks because we don’t have
any keys ... . We are just in shock. We are not taking it easy, everybody is just out of space,” McKoy continued, adding that money from a recent fundraiser was also scraped up by the crooks.
“It set us back big time. Big, big time,” she said, noting that the police have been reviewing security footage in a bid to find the culprits. In the meantime, McKoy said she is battling the thought that the robbery was an inside job, as team members live as a family.