A business that has operated in downtown Nanaimo for more than a decade had its first ever break-in on the weekend.
The entrance to Smoke Rings Cigar and Tobacco Company on Church Street is boarded over with plywood after someone threw a brick through the front window and looted the contents of a display case.
Matthew Rear, whose wife Erin Bechamp and son Leo Bechamp-Rear own and run the business, said whoever broke in looted the display case of lighters, cigars and humidors.
“But they left the open cash register alone, which was surprising,” Rear said.
The break-in happened Saturday, April 8, at about 4 a.m. Rear and Bechamp were in Hawaii when they received word of the incident.
Rear said the store, located in the Dorchester Hotel building, has always been secure because the hotel operates 24 hours per day with staff always on site. There have long been unhoused people sleeping in the doorway, but they have always been polite and his wife and son have always had good relations with them and they have regularly come in to buy lighters and other items.
It is not known who broke into the store.
Rear said after reading an article about smashed windows and looting at the Vault Café, he and his family were going to have bars installed in the cigar shop’s door and windows.
“We were going to tend to the cage when we got back, but they beat us to it,” he said.
Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson, said police hope the public can provide tips about who committed the break-in.
“There’s not a lot to go on at this point,” O’Brien said. “We’re canvassing the area for cameras and any potential witnesses. Hopefully the public can help.”
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP detachment non-emergency line at 250-754-2345 and quote file #2023-11504.
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chris.bush@nanaimobulletin.com
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