Employees of the Cash Store in Terminal Park Plaza had to step gingerly when they walked in the office Monday morning because what used to be the front of their place of work was lying in shattered pieces on the sidewalk.
At roughly 4 a.m. someone smashed through the front of the building and stole the cash safe.
Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong, Nanaimo RCMP spokeswoman, had little information about how the heist was pulled off.
“They got the safe,” Armstrong said. “I’m assuming it’s a truck. I mean, it could have been a Caterpillar, but I’d guess it’s a truck. They had to put [the safe] someplace, so it had to be a truck or a van.”
Whatever was used completely destroyed the entire glass and brick front of the store, which work crews were clearing away as employees tried to carry on business for the morning.
The cost to repair the damage to the storefront is over $5,000.
Employees could not offer comment, referring all questions to the company’s head office in Edmonton, Alberta.
Armstrong did not have information about how many people took part in the robbery and could only say that the investigation into the robbery was in its very early stages. She could also not comment about the contents of the safe.
A stolen 1997 green Dodge Dakota pickup was located in the central area of Nanaimo and investigators believe the truck was used in the theft of the safe.
If anyone saw this truck in the early morning hours of Monday (May 9), they are asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 or Nanaimo Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.nanaimocrimestoppers.com.