Samer Shehadeh is trying to come to grips with how an already bad situation could have become so much worse.
“That’s the sad thing, as a society it’s unfortunate that people can go that low,” Shehadeh told Global News.
Shehadeh is the owner of the Kelowna townhouse that was badly damaged on April 11 when a semi-tractor-trailer unit lost control along Gordon Drive near Cameron Avenue and plowed into the structure.
The crash forced him, his wife, mother-in-law and their three young children out of their home indefinitely.
Now thieves have targeted the home not once but twice.
“It was one thing for the house to get hit by a semi-truck. It took us a month to kind of get our mind straight and now for your personal valuables to get affected … the stress, we can’t sleep, we can’t eat,” Shehadeh said.
Kelowna RCMP said that they first received a report about the break-in on Monday at 5:30 a.m.
Numerous items were stolen including electronics, jewelry, credit cards, car keys and the car itself.
Shehadeh told Global News that the security company, Kalamalka Security, told him the suspects, possibly up to four of them, posed as construction workers.
It’s not known how long the suspects were inside the home but Shehadeh said pictures from inside the house suggest the culprits spent some time inside drinking and ransacking the home.
“It seems like there was people drinking and just throwing cans on the ground I went in today and I can smell bleach all over the place,” Shehadeh said.
The stolen vehicle was equipped with a GPS tracking system and was located nearby.
The RCMP’s target team officers conducted surveillance on the vehicle and managed to arrest two men, 36 and 45, later in the day.
The pair face multiple charges including break and enter, fraudulent use of a credit card and failure to comply with a release order.
“They are Kelowna residents and they are known to police,” said Const. Mike Della-Paolera.
Shehadeh said he believes the suspects originally gained access to the home through the semi, which remains embedded in the structure.
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“So the plastic protection here was all cut,” he said pointing to the plastic used to cover up the large hole in the structure.
He said there are foot marks on the semi’s front tire to suggest suspects climbed on top of the semi and then gained access to the upstairs of the home.
Later Monday, at around 10:30 p.m., suspects broke into the home again.
“It looks like from one of the original break-ins, they had stolen the fob to get into the house,” he said, “and went in through the front door.”
Shehadeh said more items were stolen.
The home’s garage was ransacked and crowbar was left behind.
The downstairs kitchen was also rifled through.
Shehadeh is upset with Kalamalka Security saying they did not do a proper job of protecting his property.
“That’s the whole idea of security is that peace of mind and that’s the reason why you have security,” Shehadeh said. “So, obviously they didn’t do the job.”
Kalamalka Security has had a security guard on site 24-7.
The company defended itself saying its security guard walks around the house every 20 minutes but can’t be on every side of the property at all times.
“There are multiple entrances on the site,” said Kalamalka Security manager Lohit Joshi. “So if you’re patrolling one side and you’re on one side, if somebody snuck in from the other side, and you have no access to the building, you can’t tell how many people there are inside.”
Shehadeh questions how the security company missed observing the blinds, which were originally up, suddenly pulled down and some of the larger items stolen being taken out of the home.
“They dropped the ball,” Shehadeh said.
A new security company was brought in as of noon Tuesday and Shehadeh is pushing for electronic video surveillance, which would allow for live monitoring of the site.
RCMP have also vowed to increase patrols in the area.
“We are really feeling for our victims,” said Della-Paolera. “I mean, they’re victims and then they’re victims and victims again and it’s unfortunate but we have increased our patrols and we are going to make sure that we’re around the neighbourhood and around that house more and more until we can get that building secured.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up for anyone wishing to support the family.
“It’s more of a stopgap between you know, what might not be covered, what kind of issues we might have down the road,” Shehadeh said. “It’s the mental loss here. It’s not just the money. It’s going to take a great toll and a great amount of time for us to kind of overcome this.”
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