UPDATE: 2 P.M.
Kelowna RCMP say a young woman and man were allegedly behind an early morning liquor store break in on Tuesday.
RCMP responded to a commercial alarm at the Commerce Liquor Store in Rutland on Dec. 27 at 4:24 a.m..
Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey says police arrived on scene and discovered that the front glass door to the business had been smashed out.
Upon review of the stores video surveillance footage, police saw suspects enter the store and select several bottles of liquor valued at more than $450, before they fled the store on foot.
O’Donaghey says the duo were arrested later that same day in downtown Kelowna.
“It didn’t take very long for investigators to identify their two break and enter suspects,” says O’Donaghey.
“Officers caught up with the pair of suspects in downtown Kelowna less than 19 hours after the break-in was allegedly committed.”
An 18-year-old Kelowna man and a 15-year-old Kelowna girl were taken into police custody without incident.
Both suspects were held in police custody and have since appeared in court, facing several charges.
The 18-year-old was released by the courts on a recognizance and is expected to appear in court next on Jan. 5th.
The 15-year-old was remanded into custody and is expected to appear in court on Jan. 3.
There is no word from RCMP on the third person seen in the break in video.
The investigation is on-going anyone with any information is asked to call the Kelowna RCMP.
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ORIGINAL:
Three young men are in hot water after bragging about their criminal activity on social media.
One of the men allegedly involved in the theft of a Kelowna liquor store this week bragged about his theft on Facebook and was turned in – by his dad.
Commerce Liquor Store manager Kaitlyn De Leeuw says the alarm company first alerted her to the break in at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday morning, Dec. 26.
She thought the alarm company was mistaken as the store had just suffered a break in on Dec. 17 and she didn’t think it would happen again that soon.
Unfortunately at 4:45 a.m., RCMP also called De Leeuw and confirmed the store had fallen victim to thieves once again.
“They came through our front door and smashed the front door with a big rock,” says De Leeuw.
“The one that broke the door stood outside while the other two came inside. They stole about $450 worth of booze, nine bottles, and then they fled on foot. They were only in the store for 17 seconds.”
De Leeuw is quite convinced the three men in the video above are also responsible for the break in on Dec. 17, as they broke in the exact same way.
“It was the same rock they used before,” says De Leeuw. “It has to be the same people. It looked like the exact same rock almost.”
RCMP called De Leeuw early Wednesday morning, less than 24 hours later, to let her know the three assailants had been identified after one of their dad’s turned them in.
“The RCMP told me they caught the guys. One of them bragged about it on Facebook, his dad saw it and ratted him out,” says De Leeuw.
Police told her the trio is facing charges for the Dec. 26 break in, but are unclear about whether charges will also be laid for the Dec. 17 break in.
