Over the weekend, two similar commercial break-ins to local electronic retailers are being investigated:
Sept. 23rd at around 1:15 am, the Saanich Police were notified by a security company that an alarm was being received at the Best Buy store at Uptown Centre.
Officers were on scene by about 1:20am and noticed right away that the front door had been pried open and an inner security gate had been attacked. The glass had had also been attacked, but the security film resisted any attempts to break in.
Investigators uncovered evidence that the store alarm system had been tampered with from the exterior.
Sept. 24th at around 3:15 am, up to a dozen alarm activations were received by the security company for Westworld Computers in the 3200 block of Douglas street. Officers were on scene within a couple minutes of the call.
At first it appeared the store was secure from the exterior. But upon entering with the owner, investigators found that the store had been accessed through the wall of a neighbouring unit. Significant time and effort had been used to pull down a portion of the wall to enter the store.
Thieves took up to $40 000, worth of Apple products including Ipads, MacBooks and miniMac computers. Forensic investigators also confirmed that there had been tampering with the alarm system for the store.
If anybody knows anything about these incidents they are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police at 250-475-4321 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. If you become aware of Apple products being offered for sale at reduced rates, please contact the Saanich Police.
12-19869/19928