A donair shop on Kelowna's Ellis Street became the site of an unusual break-in early Monday morning when a thief made off with an entire container of ice cream.
The incident took place at 5:16 a.m. at the newly opened Primetime Donair & Poutine shop, located at 1360 Ellis St.
Surveillance footage shows the suspect’s first attempt to enter the building was unsuccessful.
Undeterred, the thief then used a piece of a garbage can to smash through the glass and gain entry. Once inside, they headed straight for a container of ice cream before fleeing the scene.
"The preliminary costs should be about $3,000 with the cleanup and ice cream expenses," said employee Trilok Singh. "It was definitely weird and funny as well. It is birthday cake, which has sprinkles in it, so he stole a whole pack of that birthday cake ice cream. He probably loved that."
Police arrived shortly after the incident and arrested the suspect, a 27-year-old man, nearby.
Cpl. Michael Gauthier says live CCTV footage from the City of Kelowna was "instrumental" in helping track down the suspect.
“This is another great example of the strong working relationship between the RCMP and the City of Kelowna to target and deter property crime," he said.
This is the donair franchise's second location in the Okanagan.
The shop is already working on turning this setback into a positive.
The broken glass has been boarded up, and the shop is now seeking artists who would be interested in transforming that space into a mural.
"We’re hoping to turn this into something creative and positive," Singh added.
Artists interested in contributing can reach out via email at [email protected].
