It was a bad weekend for one Richmond restaurant owner who discovered his store’s glass front had been smashed and all the cash in the register was gone.
According to a photo circulated on Chinese social media WeChat, the big glass front door of Snowy Village Dessert Cafe on Alexandra Rd. had been smashed, leaving shattered glass all over the floor.
Richmond RCMP said they were notified of the burglary at around 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 after a bystander in the area noticed damage to the local dessert store’s front door.
“A rock was located inside the business which is likely the object used to break the glass on the front door. Some property and a sum of cash was reported missing,” said Richmond RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
Hwang also noted that this business did not have a monitored detector or security cameras in place.
The Richmond News reached out to the restaurant owner who claimed that around $1,000 and four iPads were missing.
“I have been running this dessert store for many years and this is the first time people targeted my store. What’s even worse is that this break-and-enter has left me with a big repair bill,” said the owner. “This glass door is super expensive to repair.”
Businesses and residents in downtown Vancouver and the West End have seen a surge in window-smashing incidents, according to recent media reports.
However, Hwang said there is no up-tick in window-smashing related crimes in Richmond.
“These types of crimes or similar to those in cars – they are ones of opportunity. Many businesses in Richmond have security bars, cameras, and other deterrents installed to reduce theft, including removing point of sale devices, and/or the amount of cash kept,” said Hwang in an email.
