A cookie bandit is on the lam in Peachland, B.C.
Surveillance video shows a thief breaking into Bliss Bakery around 3 a.m. on Jan. 21.
But the thief wasn’t after cash — she wanted a different kind of dough.
“Somebody had punched out the lock on the front door, comes in, beelined for the cookies, ignored the open cash drawer that’s next to them, bundled up four trays of cookies and hoofed it out of the business,” bakery co-owner Darci Yeo said.
“This was a really committed criminal. They knew what they wanted and they had their eye on the ball — or on the cookie,” said Barry Yeo, who is also an owner of the bakery.
Barry said he rushed down to his business when an alarm warned him about the break-in.
RCMP were already at the scene, he said.
“The police are like, ‘Is anything missing?’ And yeah, well, the cookies are all gone,” Barry said.
But it wasn’t exactly a clean getaway. Clues were left at the scene.
“There was a trail of cookie crumbs leading back to the scene of the crime, and there was a trail leading out to the parking spaces because they had a vehicle,” Barry said.
A police dog was called to the scene but didn’t have much luck following the trail of cookie crumbs, he added.
The bandit with an affinity for baking was nowhere to be found.
“I mean, I know the cookies are good, but I don’t think getting a criminal record for stealing them is the way that you want to go,” Darci said.
“I can’t understand why they didn’t go to the till, but I guess that speaks volumes for the quality of Bliss’ cookies,” Bryce Manske, a customer, said.
“We’ve had a lot of comments about how these cookies are a steal,” Darci added.
The bakery burglar opted for chocolate chunk, peanut butter chocolate chunk, chocolate salty toffee and tree hugger cookies.
“We were a little insulted because they left behind the gluten-free cookies,” Darci said. “I felt like they were trying to send us a message or something.”
The bandit’s cookie choice might offer clues into the perpetrator’s identity, she suggested.
“They’re obviously not celiac. They seem to know exactly where they were going. I’d say they had the munchies,” she said.
Darci said the theft involved very little damage aside from a broken lock.
“But I would like my trays back,” she said. “The trays for the cookies are hard to come by and a silly price.”
“If they just want to come back, they can drop them off at 4 a.m., no questions asked,” Darci said. “Enjoy the cookies, but I’d like to get my trays back.”