Thieves ram buildings in overnight break-ins
CLARA HO
Thieves likely thought they were hitting the jackpot when they drove into the garage door attached to an electronics store early Thursday.
But instead of entering a warehouse full of TVs, cameras and computers, they ended up plowing through the shower room of a fitness facility.
“This is the epitome of stupid criminals,” said Aaron Curtis, general manager of the Visions Electronics in the 3900 block of 51st Street S.W. “They didn’t even get into our building.”
Police said three businesses were broken into on Thursday morning, when a vehicle was used to smash into buildings. It’s believed the same vehicle was used in all three cases.
Brown’s Grocery in the 1200 block of 20th Avenue N.W. was the first to be struck at 12:50 a.m. A few items were taken from the store, said Acting Staff Sgt. Shawn Foisie.
Thirty-five minutes later, the building attached to the Visions Electronics was broken into, Foisie said. The actual business was not affected.
Police interrupted a third break-in just after 2 a.m., this time at the Sony Store in WestHills Shopping Centre.
“They backed their truck and broke our loading dock door. But before they made it into our store, police showed up,” said Eva Hooton, assistant store manager. A stolen F-250 was found at the last scene.
Police said a man was arrested nearby. He has been charged with three counts of break and enter and one count of possession of stolen property, but his name had not been released at press time.
Investigators are want to talk with the driver of a stolen white Range Rover SUV with an Alberta licence plate ZMF 125.
“From eyewitnesses and CCTV, it appears there were two vehicles working in tandem,” Foisie said, adding culprits using vehicles to break into buildings is nothing new and such incidents have occurred steadily over the years.
“The concern would be if there’s cleaning staff or anyone in the building, they could be injured,” he added.
Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.