Hundreds of dollars’ worth of merchandise stolen
A downtown Kelowna store became the latest victim of a recent string of robberies this week.
Around 2 AM Wednesday morning, a man broke into MacDermott’s on Bernard Avenue, using a sledgehammer to smash through the glass front door and metal gate. He then ran into the store and grabbed over a dozen men’s bags, each worth hundreds of dollars, before leaving.
Owner Jay MacDermott says the costs of repairs and the stolen items will have a serious impact on her business.
“It’s a loss. People think ‘oh, well you’re covered, and thank goodness no one was hurt,’ but still, at the end of the day, you have to pay the bills,” says MacDermott.
Repairing the entrance will cost the business approximately $20,000, and it’ll be at least three weeks before the repairs can be done.
The Kelowna RCMP have been spoken to about the incident, and are currently investigating.
This is the latest in a recent string of downtown robberies, which has included incidents at Naked Cafe, Wild Kingdom, and most recently: the Garden of Eden escorting service.
“I hate to say that downtown is ‘unsafe,’” says MacDermott. “It does happen everywhere, it’s just that all of a sudden it’s been a few in a row. I still think we need cameras on the streets.”
You can find security footage of the incident at MacDermott's on the AM 1150 Facebook page.
