Thieves struck Mission’s Prospect Equipment twice in a six-day span, stealing more than $50,000 worth of equipment.
Store owner Pascal Deissner said he first heard about the break-in when he received a call from his security company at about 3 a.m. on Nov. 9.
By the time he met up with the Mission RCMP at the store on Glasgow Ave., the intruders were long gone.
“Our front door was broken, of course. They sledge hammered out the glass and the barrier and the handle and lots of equipment was removed from the premises,” said Deissner.
The entire break-in was recorded on security cameras.
After filing a police report, an insurance claim, repairing the damage as best they could and placing new stock in the display areas, business resumed as normal.
Six days later, on Nov. 15, thieves struck again. And again, security cameras captured it all.
While he can’t be 100 per cent sure it is the same thieves who broke in the second time, the video is quite telling.
The first video shows the thieves struggling to smash the front door and once inside, one suspect sends merchandise crashing to the floor as they were all chained together.
The second robbery, the thieves appear to have tied a rope to the door and ripped it out entirely. They also had bolt cutters to unchain the stock, before taking it.
“They were definitely more prepared the second time,” said Deissner.
Another police report, another insurance claim and more repairs had to be done and the price tag for the robberies kept rising.
“By the time we are all said and done, with the damages to the building we’re probably going to be $15,000 to $18,000 more.”
That doesn’t include the addition of more security and a likely rise in insurance premiums.
Deissner first purchased the local business in December of 2005 and will celebrate 14 years as owner next month. It’s not the first time he has had to deal with thieves.
“The last break-in we had, in 2015, was a fairly large break-in. We had $12,000 to $13,000 worth of product taken … Much to the credit of the Mission RCMP, in conjunction with the Surrey RCMP, they did recover every single piece, except for one item.”
He’s hoping for a similar result this time.
For now, he has to organize repairs and keep the business running smoothly.
“We are certainly open for business and would welcome business right now.”
kevin.mills@missioncityrecord.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
