Police are investigating after thieves rammed a pick up truck through the windows at Apex Cycle on Thursday morning, causing thousands in damage but only getting away with two generators.
“The damage to the building compared to what they got is pretty out of proportion,” said general manager Colin Lobsinger.
The early-morning smash and grab at the Schiedel Court business was caught on security camera and shows what looks like up to four people in a pick-up truck and compact SUV driving through the parking lot at Blackbridge Harley-Davidson, circling the entire building and “haphazardly” driving across the grass.
“It didn’t look planned at all because they drove up beside the building and quickly threw it in reverse.
“They must have been wiped out on drugs because if you see the video, you’re like ‘holy…’”
Lobsinger thinks the reason the thieves didn’t get away with much is because of the amount of destruction the impact left behind.
“They would have smashed that glass, wrecked the truck and then jumped out and realized they were standing in giant pieces of glass. You couldn’t really walk out safely.
“They just made a huge mess and just said, ‘we gotta go. The tailgate and everything ripped off the pick up truck when they drove away.”
Lobsinger said the thieves were long gone by the time police arrived, shortly after the 3:40 a.m. call.
This is the second time in three months the business has been broken into in the same manner.
In the first incident, thieves got away with four small motorcycles, Lobsinger said.
The unfortunate result of that incident was their security company was able to report the break-in to police and identify the vehicle involved as a white Chevy cargo van, said Lobsinger.
He later learned that when police pulled up behind the vehicle, determined it was stolen and initiated pursuit, they had to call it off when the van ran some red lights.
“The criminals are learning they can break the law a little bit more and get away with it.”
Lobsinger said they plan to install a gate at the entrance and place armour stone around the building to prevent it from happening again.
“We’re really going to harden our defences here,” he said. “They will clearly go to great lengths to get in here.”
Waterloo regional police say their break, enter and vehicle theft unit continue to investigate the incident and is looking for a dark coloured pickup truck.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
