Thieves rip door off Mission business and steal $50,000 worth of equipment
Credit to Author: Scott Brown| Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 20:27:46 +0000
A Mission business owner is in shock after two smash-and-grab burglaries at his outdoor equipment store that occurred within a week of each other.
Pascal Deissner, owner of Mission’s Prospect Outdoor Equipment, figures the thieves that hit his business — and boy, did they hit it — made off with about $50,000 of merchandise during the two break-ins.
The first theft occurred in the early morning of Nov. 9. Surveillance-video footage shows three masked men bashing through the store’s front door with a sledgehammer and then grabbing all they could carry during a three-minute stealing spree inside the store.
The crooks made off with a few chainsaws, a couple of generators, a water pump and some other outdoor power equipment.
The thieves returned, along with a fourth masked man, on Nov. 15 to carry out an even more brazen robbery as they used a truck to remove the store’s entire front entrance.
“After the first break-in, we patched up the door the best we could. All the locking mechanisms had been compromised and broken,” Deissner said. “We chained it up and added some steel there … but they used that as an anchor point, hooked on a chain, tied it to a truck and ripped the whole frickin’ thing out.”
With the entryway completely cleared, the thieves had a much easier time removing equipment, including seven generators, four power blowers, two wood cutters and a chainsaw.
“It proved an even more fruitful visit,” said Deissner, who figures he’ll need to spend another $20,000 to repair the damage caused by the thieves.
The two thefts, which both occurred around 3 a.m., were captured on video by an in-store camera.
Deissner, who has owned the store for 14 years, was in shock as he watched the instant replay of the second theft.
“I was able to watch it from my home not long after it happened,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it … it almost brings a tear to your eye. We’d already been through the one violation and then we get hit again … and even worse.”
Mission RCMP is investigating. There have been no arrests.