In a rare case of break and enter while residents slept, a couple was awakened by the sound of breaking glass shortly after 1 a.m. on Sept. 3.
The husband checked around the Thompson Avenue residence but couldn’t see anything unusual and went back to bed. About an hour later the couple were again awakened, this time by someone shining a flashlight into their bedroom.
“In my career I know a couple dozen like that. We’ve had two or three [break and enters while residents are home] in Oak Bay and Victoria in the last couple years,” said Const. Rick Anthony, community liaison officer, adding those were primarily daytime crimes.
“Bad guys are going to break into houses whether people are home or not. They prefer not … they don’t want hard, they want easy.” In this case the suspect fled while residents called 9-1-1 – the right thing to do says Anthony.
“People should just be calm. People should have a phone in the bedroom and call 9-1-1 right away. Even if you’re wrong, we’d rather come and spend some time there making sure nothing is wrong.
“Stay safe and call 9-1-1 and give us all the details you can give us.”
In the Oak Bay incident, a Victoria Police Department dog followed a strong scent into the back alley but did not locate suspect. Officers discovered a broken window in the rear back door and Saanich PD Forensic Identification Section examined the scene as part of the ongoing investigation.