In the early morning hours of February 4, an unknown suspect broke into the Telus Mobility store at Uptown Center, causing damage to the interior walls in the process.
Saanich Police received a report of an internal motion alarm in a rear office of the business and attended to the store. Upon initial attendance, all appeared to be in order and the front door was secure. Checks of neighbouring businesses revealed an insecure door at a vacant suite directly next to the Telus store.
When the neighbouring vacant suite was checked, a large hole through the drywall was found, which would have allowed access from the vacant business space into the Telus office. Although entry to the office was gained, it does not appear that the suspects were successful in getting any property from the store.
The timing of the break in appears to possibly be related to the planned release of the new Balckberry 10 product that was due to be available to the public later that same day. Investigators will be reviewing video surveillance footage and continuing with the investigation.
Although this type of entry is not common, there have been other incidents within the Victoria area that have occurred in the recent past, including a similar event that occurred in the Victoria area at a Rogers store on Quadra Street the previous evening.
A previous break and enter to another business occurred in September 2012. The suspects in that incident used the same form of entry through a vacant neighboring business, making off with approximately $40,000 in Apple products. This previous incident occurred very close to the release date of the iPhone 5.
Anyone with information relating to any of the above mentioned incidents is asked to contact the Saanich Police at 250-475-4321 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Sgt. Steve Eassie #158