The owner of an Agassiz cafe is hoping someone saw a thief breaking into her business.
The Oasis Coffee and Bistro was broken into at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
The fact that the culprit gained access through the door that leads onto Cheam Avenue is giving her hope that someone at that intersection noticed something amiss.
“It was the middle of the afternoon at a busy intersection,” Reese Ollmann said. “We just couldn’t believe it.”
The thief apparently picked the lock on Cheam after unsuccessfully trying to get in on the Pioneer Ave. side of the building, which is less visible to passing traffic.
The alarm went off and RCMP arrived on scene shortly after.
The thief reportedly took off with about a dozen small packages of coffee beans from the Back Porch, some meats and cheese, frappaccino mix and an undisclosed amount of cash.
The thief also allegedly damaged an oven in the cafe, possibly by standing on the door and then the stovetop. There were empty display bottles of coffee syrups above the oven, which Ollmann believes the thief was attempting to steal.
“The door came completely off its hinge and is broken,” she said. “All the glass was in place, but completely shattered. I went to move it, and it shattered all over the floor.”
In addition to the theft and damage, some of the food looked like it was handled, prompting Ollmann to toss out several food items.
“We noticed that my cookies had been compromised,” she said, along with milk and cream.
This is the second time the cafe has been broken into. Last May, someone broke in and stole a 50″ flat screen t.v. and a Trevor Linden jersey that was on display to support the Canucks.
“This is round two, so I’m not overly thrilled,” she said. “Luckily the alarm went off so they weren’t able to do any real damage.”
Normally the cafe is open until 4 p.m., but they closed early that day due very slow sales.
She is wondering about the possibility of a neighbourhood watch for businesses, to help reduce break ins. She cited a number of Agassiz businesses that have had break ins over the past few months.
Anyone with information about the robbery can contact the Agassiz RCMP at 604-796-2211.
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