A local business owner is losing sleep over concerns for his store’s security after not one but two incidents of vandalism or theft last week.
Ali Jamaly, the owner of True Value Hardware on 107 St. near Main Street, said his store was vandalized early Tuesday morning, then broken into with $10,000 worth of merchandise stolen early Thursday morning.
“I don’t feel comfortable. I’m having sleep troubles,” he said. “I haven’t slept for two nights.”
The Tuesday incident just involved two broken windows, but at a cost of $1,000 each to replace them that is not an insignificant amount of damage.
Thursday’s incident involved thieves breaking into the store and stealing a wide range of merchandise, including electronics, airsoft guns, hunting gear, knives and tools, among other things.
“They came back and broke the front door and they stole a lot. I would say over $10,000 of merchandise,” Jamaly said.
“I’m estimating; I’m still filling out my insurance reports.”
He said he has reported the incident to the RCMP, but so far they have no leads and he’s not confident they will be able to solve the case.
“They’re investigating, you know how it is. No leads so far,” he said.
Jamaly said he is especially concerned because he believes there have been several thefts from commercial properties all around town last week.
“People have to be vigilant in town and be careful,” he said. “It’s a continuous thing going on, but this week it’s been very bad.”
Cpl. Dave Casey of the Westlock RCMP said while officers have responded to many false alarms in the area in recent weeks, there have not been what he would call an unusual amount of commercial break-ins.
“His is the only business in the last little bit that’s actually been entered and property stolen,” he said. “There’s no rash of business thefts in town. Hopefully it was something that was very isolated and won’t take place any farther.”
Nonetheless, he advises business owners to take some basic security measures like installing an alarm system and even video surveillance.
“If alarms are triggered, we’ll respond as quickly as we possibly can,” he said.
Anyone with information about this theft can contact the Westlock RCMP at 780-349-4491 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-422-TIPS (8477).
