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Business owner battles break-ins in multiple Vancouver Island locations

RCMP arrest two suspects Duncan’s Gold Silver Guy location broken into
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Two men were arrested soon after they allegedly broke into the Gold Silver Guy location on Station Street in Duncan early in the morning on Sept. 19.

Store owner Jeff Ross said a rock was thrown through one of the front windows in the shop at approximately 1 a.m. Monday morning and the thieves climbed through the broken window and over a scissor gate inside before taking a quantity of jewelry and rare bills.

He said the store’s alarm was set off when the front window was broken and the security company called the RCMP and him at his home in Nanaimo to advise them of the break in.

RELATED STORY: OWNER FED UP AFTER DOWNTOWN DUNCAN JEWELRY STORE BROKEN INTO - AGAIN

Ross immediately drove from Nanaimo to Duncan and had a sleepless night dealing with police and taking inventory to see what was taken.

“The police were in the area at the time and caught two people soon after they left the store,” Ross said. “They were taken into custody, but I don’t know at this stage if they still had what they had stolen from the store on them at the time.”

The RCMP confirmed that two men were arrested in connection with the break in, a court date has yet to be set, and the investigation is ongoing.

RELATED STORY: THIEVES SMASH THEIR WAY INTO MAGPIES ANTIQUES IN CHEMAINUS, STEAL $30K IN JEWELRY

Ross, who also owns Gold Silver Guy locations in Nanaimo and Qualicum Beach, said this is the first time in seven years that the Duncan store was successfully broken into, although there was one attempt before.

But he said there have been 16 break ins at his other two locations over the past 24 years, and this is the first time the police have caught anyone.

“I have layers of security at the Duncan store, including film on the windows to make them harder to break and several security fences inside, but they got through anyway,” Ross said.

Ross said he’d consider roll-up metal shutters to cover the windows, as some other businesses in the downtown core have done, but that’s up to his landlord to decide.

“I think that would take away from the look of the neighbourhood and people wouldn’t want to be here if they didn’t feel safe,” he said.

“It’s the sign of the times I guess, and it seems to just get worse and worse. Sometimes I wonder why I stay in business.”



robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com

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Robert Barron

About the Author: Robert Barron

Since 2016, I've had had the pleasure of working with our dedicated staff and community in the Cowichan Valley.
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