Fort St John experiences rash of commercial break and enters

Over the past two week, Fort St John RCMP have received a rash of commercial break and enter reports.

The first report came in on October 6, at Amanda's No Frills where a lone suspect entered the building and stole numerous items. 

Additional reports came in on October 15th for Mastaro Sushi and MJ Café Crepe, on October 16th for KFC and October 18 for Audilicious with all the incidents occurring during the night time hours.  Cash appeared to be the main target for the suspect in each case. 

Likewise, RCMP are investigating commercial break and enters to compounds where individuals broke into locked compounds and stole large items. 

On October 14, suspects broke into Northern Roy Environmental by cutting the chain link fence and stealing a flat deck trailer and a Kawasaki UTV.  October 16, suspects cut the chain linked fence to gain entry into Alpine Storage and stole a 2019 Keystone Cougar travel trailer.  October 18, suspects forced entry into Eecol Electric and stole a roll of cooper wire.

Thieves are usually looking for what is quick and easy with the best payoff.  Areas that are dark or secluded, have little local traffic and hold potential valuables are prime targets for thieves.  The Fort St John RCMP wish to share tips for businesses to help protect their business and possessions:

• always store money under lock and key and preferably where it would not be easily located or accessed, 
• do not maintain a float of cash, even if it is change in the till unattended overnight,
• ensure all doors, windows and gates are locked and alarms are set,
• maintain video surveillance systems,
• maintain area lighting which illuminates dark or large open areas,
• ensure vehicles are locked and valuable documents or possessions are removed,
• hitch locks on trailers can be a valuable deterrent as they require time for offenders to deal with.

With the sudden rash of break and enters, police are not ruling out that this is the work of the same person or a group of persons and are continuing to investigate.  When there is a sudden spike of similar offences, it is typical that a new offender has moved in or returned to the area. 

Fort St John RCMP will continue overnight patrols across the city and wish to partner with our community as the best way to catch the thief or thieves in situations like this.  If anyone observed any suspicious activity during overnight hours at or near these locations, the RCMP requests you contact police and share what you saw or heard by calling (250) 787-8100 or Crime Stoppers at 1(800)222-8477.