$40,000 worth of damages
Photo: Mike Clarke
The owner of Mountain Lifestyle Outlet in Rutland says he’s frustrated and disheartened after a break-and-enter at the store early Sunday morning caused $40,000 in damage to equipment and bikes.
Mike Clarke says the incident happened at 4:50 am
He says this is the third time his store has entered this year.
“They didn’t take anything, but they did damage property and several bikes trying to get a bike out. This is the second hit-and-run in three months. They obviously knew what they were trying to focus on because the bike they were trying to take a $9,000 electric mountain bike.”
Clarke says a person entered through a window.
“They threw all the bikes off a rack, went through the store. That bike was actually chained to the store, so they went back and got some wire cutters to cut the lock and took the bike. They tried to get out -ne. Then they realized they had to go back through the hole, and when they were almost back to the window, the police showed up and scared them off.”
Clarke says no arrests were made and Kelowna RCMP are currently investigating.
“The amount of damage is a pretty big kick in the pants. I don’t know if it’s the area of town we’re in because we’re on a major road that we have issues with. What I learned after the last stop… is that the bike theft industry is huge in Kelowna,” added Clarke.
Photo: Mike Clarke