Staff at an Edmonton dance studio made an upsetting discovery this week that will directly impact the young children who learn at the facility.
“One of my coworkers said ‘Hey, where’s the safe’ — she was going to take out some cheques,” Dance Theme Academy teacher Katie MacEachern said.
After making sure no one else at the studio moved it, they checked their security footage.
It shows — just before midnight on Monday — two people got into the building.
They appear to be looking around before finding the safe under a desk.
At one point, one of the individuals looks directly into the security camera.
Shortly after, they both pick it up and leave.
“Nothing was damaged or moved out of place, so we didn’t suspect anything,” MacEachern said.
“I was mad watching it, just because we’ve been working so hard and I think all small businesses right now are struggling.”
According to MacEachern there was a couple thousand dollars in scholarship money in the safe along with the studio’s iPad — which she said holds all of their music for competitions.
“We just started a new scholarship called ‘Dream to Dance’,” she explained. “To just go into a little kids dance studio and steal is just — it felt really violating and upsetting.”
MacEachern said at this point, she hopes the thieves realize how important the technology and cash was to the children at the studio.
“I would just hope they are using the money to put food on their kids table and not do illegal things,” she said. “I would just ask for the iPad back.”
Police confirm they are looking into the incident.
In the meantime, MacEachern noted they have bolstered their security and changed the locks.
They also upgraded their alarm system.
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