The owners of a small electric vehicle business in Vancouver are reeling after a vehicle repeatedly rammed into their shop on Monday in what appears to be a failed smash-and-grab.
Security footage shows an SUV crashing into the front entrance of Urban Machina in Kitsilano around 4 a.m. A suspect clad in black then exits the vehicle and attempts to gain entry to the shop, but fails to get through the metal gate still standing behind the front door.
The SUV then rams into the entrance a second time, failing to break through the bars behind the glass.
“Angry, sad, disappointed, you name it,” Urban Machina co-founder Olivia Yau told Global News on Tuesday. “I was really shocked.”
Urban Machina primarily sells electric scooters and electric motorcycles. Yau said there was more than $30,000 in inventory in the shop at the time of the break-in, but nothing was stolen.
Nevertheless, the would-be thieves caused some $20,000 in damage to the shop, she added, and the business is set to lose thousands of dollars in sales while it closes to repair the entrance.
“Summer is our peak season, and it’s where majority of our sales happen throughout the year, so to have to close for a month or two at this time, you know, it really hurts,” Yau said.
“We’re looking at another maybe another $50,000 loss at least.”
Vancouver police Const. Tania Visintin confirmed the case is under investigation, but no suspects have been identified.
“If anybody does recognize the vehicle or the suspects we ask that they do call police,” she said.
“Not only could somebody have been hurt, there could have been cleaners in there overnight. It also affects the structure of the building, so of course, very very concerning.”
The break-in attempt comes as the Vancouver police reported their second update on ‘Project Barcode,’ a city-wide crackdown on violent retail thefts. Between April 24 and May 9, officers made nearly 140 arrests and recovered nearly $37,000 in allegedly stolen goods.
The first time around, in March, police said they arrested 215 people resulting in 217 charge recommendations.