Thief Leaves Empty Handed

Gun Theft Unsuccessful

A brazen thief smashed a stolen truck into the front door of a local business outfitters store early Thursday morning in an attempt to make off with handguns inside the store.

Officers were called Wholesale Outfitters located at 4900 Wellington Rd shortly after midnight for a break and enter alarm. Arriving on scene they saw damage that was described by one witness as looking like “ a bomb had gone off”.Evidence later obtained from video surveillance showed a white flat deck truck smashing into a door adjacent to the main entrance .The impact pushed the door back enough to allow a male suspect to squeeze through and make his way into the store.

From their the male ,dressed all in black and wearing a hoodie, ran directly to where rifles, shotguns and handguns were stored. He attempted to use a hammer to smash open the display cases but security measures in place prevented him from leaving with any. He soon gave up, then ran back out of the store to his truck. The flatdeck was later found abandoned a short distance from the store. Officers determined it had been stolen from a parking lot a few hours earlier.The male has not been apprehended.

“The potential existed for this person to steal a number of firearms. Fortunately security measures were in place and prevented this from happening. Security personnel will remain on site inside and outside the store until the door is replaced” said Constable Gary O’Brien, media spokesperson for the Nanaimo RCMP.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.