Kelowna-based tattoo artist Kitty Bent spent years honing her craft before opening her own shop on Lindhal Street: Holy Crow Tattoo.
The shop has only been open for two weeks and Bent had filled her books up fast before waking up at around 3 a.m. on Friday morning to find the shop had been broken into.
“I woke up on my 23rd birthday to my fiancé running frantically out the door, half dressed, cussing, and so I followed him to the shop that is on our property and it was broken into,” she said.
Her first reaction, she said, was pure shock.
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Bent’s fiancé, Liam Park, woke up abruptly to his cellphone blowing up with notifications from his security cameras placed around the property. When he got to the shop’s door, he saw the door was kicked open leaving behind a big, muddy footprint.
Once inside, Park and Bent found the shop in a state of chaos — cupboard doors left open and packages and materials strewed about. After a quick inventory, the couple found eight tattoo machines stolen, a number of inks and other tattoo supplies missing. A few pieces of Bent’s personal art were also taken from the shop.
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RCMP was notified of the break in at around 7 a.m. Friday morning.
Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey said, upon forced entry, the suspect “rummaged through storage containers, leaving with a combined approximate total of $4,000 worth of product and equipment used for tattooing.”
Police are asking anyone who may have seen something suspicious in the area of the 2000-block of Lindhall Street between 3 and 4 a.m. to come forward to RCMP.
Although disappointed, Bent said she hopes this is the worst of it for her shop still in its infancy.
“I think it’s only up from here,” she said.
Caitlin Clow Reporter, Kelowna Capital News Email me at caitlin.clow@kelownacapnews.com Follow us on Facebook | Twitter
