Truck smashes into antiques store in overnight break-in
Police are investigating after a suspect smashed a pickup truck into a south Edmonton antiques store during an overnight break-in.
It's the latest in a series of thefts from local antique stores. Police say they are looking into possible connections.
Clinton Beck, president and founder of Becks Antiques & Jewelry Inc., said he got a call from his security company at about 3:30 a.m. Monday, informing him that the alarms had been tripped at his store at 50th Street and 73rd Avenue.
He was preparing to head over when a second call came in from police, who told him a truck had driven through the front of the store.
"The whole front brick wall was caved in, the front door was destroyed," Beck said. "A giant hole in the building basically."
Beck said the only items stolen were a sword, a rocket launcher casing and a small silver box.
The biggest loss, he said, was the destruction of the Victorian cabinets from the 1850s. He used the "irreplaceable artifacts" to display other items, but they were destroyed when the truck crashed through the wall.
He said a smoke machine, a feature of his security system, went off when the alarms did, which would have made it difficult for the thief to see.
Security video footage shows a black truck was used to bust through the wall, and only one person was visible trying to climb over the debris and steal items.
In a statement, Edmonton police said the suspect and truck have yet to be identified.
Beck said it looks like the truck had to hit the wall twice to break through. All of his stores are fairly secure, he said, because of the high value of the goods he deals in. A few years back, they were targeted for a break-in where suspects affixed a battering ram to a van and crashed through.
A clean-up crew was on site Monday starting the rebuilding process.
Two other owners have spoken out recently about their antique shops being targeted.
Curiosity Inc. in west Edmonton and Blue Jar Antique Mall on Stony Plain Road have both been broken into multiple times over the past six months.
A suspect was arrested last week in the most recent break-in at Curiosity Inc., but on the weekend the owners of Blue Jar Antique Mall said they hadn't yet heard any updates on the investigation in their case.
