It appears a major grocery chain in Port Coquitlam was also the victim of a possible break-in earlier this month.
A truck apparently crashed through the entrance of a local Save-On-Foods in the evening on April 8 and the driver was allegedly trying to get to the ATM before police were called to the scene.
Coquitlam Mounties tell the Tri-City News its officers are investigating the incident, but no other information is being released at this time.
A Save-On-Foods spokesperson also confirms "significant damage" was done to its location near the intersection of Dominion Avenue and Ottawa Street.
"The store has been boarded up while we expedite the repair process," reads a statement sent to the Tri-City News today (April 29).
"Our teams are working quickly to repair the damage and are also working with the RCMP to assist with this file, to further their investigation."
A giant piece of plywood is now wedged in the entrance window where the incident took place, noticeable to all Save-On-Foods customers and visitors to the PoCo Home Centre plaza.
A video was recently posted to social media — and has since been taken down — that showed a black truck ramming through one of the main windows.
One witness explains to the Tri-City News the ATM near the front was allegedly the target of the possible break-in.
The news came to light after it was reported Ace Hardware in Port Coquitlam (3217 Coast Meridian Rd.) had thousands of dollars in power tools stolen.
The theft occurred in the middle of the night on April 21 and owner Amrit Shoker said the tools cost between $400 and $500 apiece.
She said she recently hung banners indicating there were expensive Milwaukee tools in the store and suspects someone planned the theft and found some way to get in through the wall despite bars on the windows.
"They came right to our tills, and took all expensive stuff, locks, Milwaukee tools," said Shoker, an immigrant mother of two children and trained engineer who opened Ace Hardware in 2018.
"It’s really hard for me, what happened and really scary."
Coquitlam RCMP confirmed to the Tri-City News it's investigating the theft as well, reviewing CCTV footage and fingerprints taken at the scene.
- with files from Diane Strandberg, Tri-City News
