The owner of a used-car dealership says he’s dealt with a handful of thefts and criminal offences at his Kelowna business during the past year.
This past weekend, though, a break-in at Patton Motorcars left Jeff Patton stunned.
“I didn’t know that was possible, to be honest,” Patton said of how the culprit got inside.
“I actually wasn’t surprised that he broke into our shop; I was surprised at how he did it.”
It was early Sunday when a man broke into the dealership through the building’s roof.
He managed to somehow get on top of the building, gain access through the roof and take off a ceiling panel.
“It’s just this big square hole that’s just covered by sheet metal,” Patton said. “I think maybe a big air conditioning unit or something was on there in the past.”
The break-in was caught on surveillance footage, which shows the man crashing onto the floor, then starting to rummage through the business.
The suspect’s actions even surprised the police.
“That’s the first one I’ve seen in a while. And it’s surprising how that he didn’t injure himself with that fall; he literally fell through the roof,” said Const. Mike Della-Paolera.
Patton said the man came in the day before, and suspicions were immediately raised as he seemed more interested in looking around the showroom, scoping it out, rather than eyeing the cars inside that are for sale.
“Super suspicious because he wasn’t really looking at our vehicles,” Patton said.
“He was more or less looking at the walls and the ceiling and kind of the perimeters and things … just kind of looking around.”
So when police called
