Thieves broke into a Richmond bakery early Monday, taking thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment and supplies.
Daan Go Cake Lab on Garden City Road near Alderbridge Way was broken into not just once, but twice in the early morning hours of July 7.
Christopher Siu, owner of Daan Go, said two suspicious people were captured on video surveillance entering the store around 4:30 a.m. and stealing several iPads, their cash till and box, and some greeting cards.
The two individuals were then seen leaving the store only to return around 5 a.m. to steal cash from a safety deposit box and a jacket from their office, speakers from the kitchen, as well as a 10-kilogram box of cocoa butter, explained Siu.
He estimated the loss at around $9,000 in total.
"I just don't understand what's happening or what they were thinking. They most likely just grabbed whatever they thought might be of value or something they could use," said Siu.
The Masterchef Canada Season 7 winner said he's more than thankful the two suspects didn't damage anything else in the store, including the doors.
The thieves ripped off the lockbox and smashed it to get the key and enter the bakery, Siu told the Richmond News.
"But at least the doors were not physically broken because that would have been extremely costly to fix," he added.
While reviewing surveillance footage from the property management, they noticed the two suspects had been hanging around the plaza on Sunday.
"It seemed like they were already planning to rob someone in the plaza or maybe were just scouting around."
As a small business, Siu said this incident has had a huge impact on them financially. They've replaced one of their iPads for operations, but still need to replace their Uber Eats tablet, which could cost $500 to $600.
"The economy has already not been great, and we've slowed down a lot since the first year we opened, and it's really hard."
Siu described Richmond as a "fairly peaceful community," but he noted there has been a noticeable increase in crime all around B.C. and Toronto in general, adding the break-in "was bound to happen." (Daan Go's Toronto location also had a break-in last month.)
According to a RCMP community safety report, there were 37 reports of commercial break-ins in May in Richmond — an 85-per-cent increase from April and a 19-per-cent increase from May 2024.
Richmond RCMP confirmed with the News that a report was made regarding a break-and-enter into Daan Go on July 7, and they are actively investigating the case.
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