The Kelowna Curling Club is reeling in the wake of an elaborate break-in and theft that has left it with thousands of dollars in damage.
“It hurts my soul to know that there are people doing this kind of damage,” said Jock Tyre, general manager of the Kelowna Curling Club.
Suspects broke into the Recreation Avenue facility in the downtown’s north end early Monday morning, but it’s the lengths they went to to get in that is most shocking,
“This isn’t just homelessness, this isn’t drug addiction. This is something. This is a real criminal who planned this out,” Tyre told Global News.
The culprits, at least two of them, climbed up onto the roof.
They cut a barbed wire along the way and then a hole in the roof.
“They obviously had a sawzall to cut through the roof, dropping down into the ceiling,” Tyre said.
According to Tyre, the suspects then crawled about 40 or so feet before removing ceiling panels to get inside, where they damaged an ATM in an effort to access cash.
“They ripped the top off which is where all the computer part was and then they cut down the side,” Tyre said.
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Part of the break-in was caught on security video, which shows ceiling panels falling to the ground and one of the suspects on top of the ATM.
While in the end they were unable to access the money, they did steal five iPads and hundreds of dollars worth of alcohol, some of which they dropped on the way out.
“I think that at a certain point it was just too much weight for them to carry,” Tyre said. “Because you’re crawling through a four-foot space, through the ceiling, getting through the joists and everything and then hauling it up a two-foot hole up onto the roof.”
Tyre said whoever is responsible knew where they were going and likely checked out the premises in advance.
“Probably someone came in during the craft show or the home show and cased it out,” Tyre said.
The incident is not the first of its kind. In 2024, thieves used a rooftop hatch to break into the building and steal merchandise.
Police are now asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects involved in the latest break-in or come forward with any information to advance the investigation.
Tyre said the facility has motion sensors on all doors and windows and even that wasn’t enough to prevent a break-in.
“We thought we were pretty well covered. But unfortunately, the size of the curling club is 40,000 square feet of roofing up there,” Tyre said. “I don’t know how we can protect from that.”
One step the club has already taken is the permanent removal of on-site ATMs to remove that as a possible incentive for any future break-ins.
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