Making a break for it.A British Columbia robber is $3 richer after he smashed up a Duncan jewelry store and made off with about $3 in valuables.A video surveillance camera at the Gold and Silver Guy store shows an axe wielding suspect smashing the store front before rummaging inside and running away around 6 am last Monday.Store manager Jeremy Daniels estimated the value of the stolen items at $3. They were to be donated to local hospital auxiliary.The greater loss, by far, was the $1,000 door and the time and expense of replacing it, which added up to about $1,500.Because police couldn’t positively identify the man from the video, the store was unable to claim insurance proceeds. The store had apparently fallen victim to various smash and grabs over the years.The store has been broken into at least three times since October, costing owners about $75,000 in stolen merchandise and repairs to its main window. It’s the 13th robbery at the chain of three Vancouver Island stores since 2021 and the 24th in 25 years.Each time they’ve had to eat the losses because they are no longer able to obtain insurance coverage.They suspect the heists have been pulled off to support a troubling addiction crisis in the community.“Nope. The more you’re broken into, the less you’re insurable because the insurance companies won’t take the risk,” Daniels told Victoria’s Chek News. “It’s just the feeling of utter helplessness, that you can’t stop these things from happening.”
Making a break for it.A British Columbia robber is $3 richer after he smashed up a Duncan jewelry store and made off with about $3 in valuables.A video surveillance camera at the Gold and Silver Guy store shows an axe wielding suspect smashing the store front before rummaging inside and running away around 6 am last Monday.Store manager Jeremy Daniels estimated the value of the stolen items at $3. They were to be donated to local hospital auxiliary.The greater loss, by far, was the $1,000 door and the time and expense of replacing it, which added up to about $1,500.Because police couldn’t positively identify the man from the video, the store was unable to claim insurance proceeds. The store had apparently fallen victim to various smash and grabs over the years.The store has been broken into at least three times since October, costing owners about $75,000 in stolen merchandise and repairs to its main window. It’s the 13th robbery at the chain of three Vancouver Island stores since 2021 and the 24th in 25 years.Each time they’ve had to eat the losses because they are no longer able to obtain insurance coverage.They suspect the heists have been pulled off to support a troubling addiction crisis in the community.“Nope. The more you’re broken into, the less you’re insurable because the insurance companies won’t take the risk,” Daniels told Victoria’s Chek News. “It’s just the feeling of utter helplessness, that you can’t stop these things from happening.”
