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Candle lake business broken into for fifth time

Jan 4, 2019 | 4:00 PM

A Candle Lake business is considering barricading their premises each night after a fifth break-and-enter in a little over a year.

All Season Service was targeted yet again in the early hours of Wednesday, when up to five culprits smashed their way into the reinforced front door and made off with the safe and various merchandise.

Manager of the business, Patty Cranford Matkowsk,i said the community and neighbouring businesses just can’t believe popular owner Wes Harker keeps having to endure this.

“Wes is a super guy, he’s a mechanic and he does great things for people and he’s too nice of a person for this to be happening to over and over again,” she told paNOW. ” Locals and everyone are just pissed off.”

Matkowski said the business lost about $10,000 in the incident. The closed circuit video surveillance they have of the smash and grab, which they posted online, has gone viral and she figured that was because the community was saying “enough is enough.”

“People are looking at the video and saying ‘wow it’s about time we start doing something,’” she said.

She explained they’ve put up security bars on the windows and doors but that’s clearly not enough with the suspects using an axe this time to smash their way in.

“We’re going to look at putting in steel doors and roll-down shutters, which will cost massive money, and we’re going to take vehicles and start parking them in front of the doors to block access,” she said.

There is video surveillance of the suspects from multiple interior and exterior camera angles (which is posted online on Facebook ) and shows them wearing coveralls and caps. Matkowski said the videos appear to have some tell-tale aspects which she hopes will allow police to get somewhere in their investigation.

She said the footage appears to show three men and two women.

“You did get a good face shot of two of them and then there’s the little girl with the nice fancy boots and then there’s the guy with the very expensive runners with the red bottoms,” she said.

Editor’s note: this story was amended Jan.5 to include there was video surveillance footage taken from multiple angles.

 

 

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow