The owner of a popular snowboard shop in Vancouver says his business was targeted by thieves, who were able to make off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items early Tuesday.
Murray Fraser, owner of The Boardroom, said thieves were able to pry open a backdoor to his store and had apparent targets in mind.
“We saw they went after specific products in specific areas,” he said. “They went into the office area and took a bunch of products pulled for online sales. They went into the manager’s desk and stole files – (sensitive) employee information. (They also) took a lot of products from the back and the front of the store on different racks.
“They also took a safe.”
The owner said it was not just a smash and grab, noting the “four to five” suspects returned multiple times.
“They came back several times and reloaded,” Fraser said. “They got away with a lot of stuff, probably around $150,000 to $250,000 (worth of goods).”
The suspects wearing masks and hoodies were caught on camera at around 4 a.m. when they initially broke in.
The thieves were then able to “circumvent” the alarm, according to the owner.
Murray said the store will now be upgrading its doors, locks and camera systems.
Vancouver police confirmed officers were called to a robbery at The Boardroom early Tuesday morning.
Const. Tania Visintin said break-and-enter crimes are also rising outside of the downtown core.
“We have seen a lot of break-and-enters in the downtown area but we are now seeing it trickle into other parts of Vancouver, whether that be in Gastown, Marpole, or Kitsilano,” Visintin said.
Anyone with information about the break-in is asked to contact Vancouver police at 604-717-3321.