Sidney/North Saanich RCMP is hoping for the public’s assistance as officers continue to investigate the theft of merchandise from a jewelry store on Beacon Avenue.
Cpl. Carrie Harding said the break-in, in the 2500-block of Beacon Avenue, was discovered Saturday morning when an alert citizen noticed broken front glass.
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Lisa Knickerbocker, manager of Provenance Fine Things, who did not return calls for comment, called the incident “very destructive” on social media in speaking of an “enormous mess of shattered glass and stolen items.”
She later spoke of “significant theft” in a television interview.
Staff-Sgt. Wayne Conley, detachment commander of Sidney/North Saanich RCMP, said these “types of incident” are rare in Sidney, but promised a thorough investigation. “These investigations are taken seriously,” he said. “Our detachment frontline members are working with both our [general investigation section] and our crime analyst on this incident.”
When asked whether this most recent incident speaks to a rash of break-and-enters, Harding said “this is the only one that we’ve had in the downtown core in over a couple of months.”
Looking at the broader picture, the public heard earlier this year that crimes in the category of property crimes dropped 42 per cent compared to the same period of 2019. Looking specifically at the category of commercial break-and-enters, they dropped by 90 per cent during the months of April, May and June of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
This development has come after police working with the Sidney Business Improvement Area Society have stepped up efforts to combat various kinds of property crimes in recent years.
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