In the middle of the night, there is a feeling in the community that something is going on.
A recent spate of early morning break-ins has left several Innisfail business owners and managers wondering exactly what can be done by the community to help stop the break-ins.
Baiers Office Pro was recently broken into.
“I came into work the day after Halloween to find my front door broken and my office laptop stolen,” Joan White told the Province. “It's not so much the break-in, but the expense of replacing a glass door and computer.”
She said other businesses have also experienced break-ins and theft, some multiple times.
“I am concerned that we automatically blame the youth of Innisfail. From my experiences, they are not always the problem,” she added.
Warren Bell, manager of Napa Auto Parts, said his store was broken into last month, resulting in a relatively small loss. There was another attempted theft later that month on Oct. 29.
“We arrived at work on Tuesday only to find our front door cracked and broken again. Almost like they were interrupted before they could get in.”
He is frustrated.
“We have noticed traffic at night that is suspicious. Cars driving slowly by, stopping, starting, lights being turned off and on. There is definitely something out of the ordinary going on,” said Warren.
In contacting the RCMP, he said he was told that there is a service deficiency in Innisfail.
As reported by the Province in September, Home Hardware was broken into and more than $18,000 worth of goods were stolen.
Other businesses in Innisfail have also been targeted.
Thieves entered All-Vac Sales Service and Repair forcibly smashing the front door and escaped with a small amount of money from the till in mid-October, said a store official.
Co-op Home and Agro have been broken into, but store officials declined to comment saying that the RCMP have the files and are working on them.
Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Matechuk, said he was hopeful there would soon be more news about the break-ins. “Hopefully we'll have more news next week. At present, we are sifting through surveillance videos carefully, and we do have suspects and have recovered some property so far.”
As to the nature of the incidents, Matechuk said there was a “lot of similarities” between the events, and a list of suspects has been narrowed. “From what we can tell, we should have charges laid next week.”
The RCMP investigation is continuing.
