The New to You second-hand store was broken into after hours and multiple items were stolen.
The thrift store, run by the Bulkley Valley District Hospital Auxiliary, on the corner of King Street and Broadway Avenue, is run by volunteers with all of the proceeds going back into the community.
Store spokesperson Gisela Varga said volunteers were shaken up when they came into work on Thursday morning and noticed they had been robbed sometime the previous night.
“We were very upset when we came in on Thursday morning,” she said. “We don’t get paid. We make money and donate it to the hospital and other community things, like the Bulkley Lodge and the Kordyban Lodge in Prince George.”
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Smithers RCMP attended the scene on Thursday.
“It appears that they got in through the window and stole some gaming systems and camera equipment. The exit was the same as the entrance,” Sgt Chris Manseau, E Division spokesperson said.
“There were no cameras, and no residents had a clear view. We did some neighbourhood inquiries, but no luck. No suspects or witnesses at this point.”
Varga thinks it was someone who knew their way around the store.
“The window [they went through] is (a) bit hidden because of the cardboard dumpster that is in front of it,” she said. “They knew where the keys were for the locked cabinet, and the keys are left in the till. So when a customer comes in and asks to see something in the locked cabinet, they can watch us take the keys out of the till. They took all the cameras and three gaming consoles out of there.”
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call the Smithers RCMP detachment.
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