The Small Town Vape Store in Burns Lake, on Highway 16 has become the victim of two break-ins in two days.
On July 6, the Burns Lake RCMP responded to a break and enter at the store and discovered that the door was broken into, the glass smashed and the suspects had lifted significant items and cash. By the time the police arrived, the perpetrators had already fled the scene.
Assistant Manager Deanna Gutteridge told Lakes District News that the alarm went off and when the police got there, they saw that the door was broken-into and there was a brick on the floor.
“We had gotten a bunch of new items in store on Thursday. So everything that was new to our store, including our juices, they took. And it was quick. They knew where everything was and what the worth of it is. The knew which juices are popular and they just took off with the bottom shelf. There were a few boxes of e-cigarettes in the back and they stole roughly about 50 of them,” she said.
On July 7, the local police responded to another break-in at the same location. A lot of items were stolen again and there was significant damage to the property with the bottom glass of the door broken-in this time.
“They had left two boxes behind and next day they came again roughly around the same time and this time they broke-in through the bottom of the door and came in and blocked the door with the brick,” said Gutteridge adding that they took quite a bit of higher-nicotine juices.
“It’s a really serious thing. We don’t want kids getting a hold of these things and in the wrong hands, we fear that is what’s going to happen,” she said.
Gutteridge also said that she hopes that people stay alert on what their kids are doing, who their friends are, “and if you have seen them with something new and you don’t know where they got it from, ask questions.”
She informed that although they don’t have a number on how much the damage and the stolen products were worth, they are guesstimating losses of over $2,000 in items.
“It’s terrible that it has come to this because nobody breaks-in to stores in Burns Lake! We are just hoping that they are caught and it would be nice to see items returned,” she said.
The RCMP received both the calls between three to three-thirty a.m.
The Burns Lake RCMP is urging people to come forward with any information they might have on the perpetrators. If you have any information, contact the Burns Lake RCMP at (250) 692-7171 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477 .
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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