Pair of Penticton tire stores targeted by thieves

PENTICTON – RCMP have a suspect in custody in connection with one of two break-ins at tire stores in Penticton this past weekend.

Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth says break and enters were reported at Integra Tire at 271 Rosetown Ave. and at Larsens Excel Tire Centre at 555 Okanagan Ave. overnight Saturday, Dec.18.

The front door lock was punched out at Integra Tire, he says. Officers arrived at the scene around 6:50 p.m. to find the building vacant, but surveillance video revealed a man driving up to the building in a white SUV and punching the lock.

Wrigglesworth says the vehicle was later spotted at the Grenada Inn. Police located the driver, who was a tenant in one of the rooms. He was identified as the man in the video, arrested and held for court after providing police with a full confession.

Meanwhile, a thief or thieves gained entrance to Larsens Excel Tire Centre by cutting a hole in the perimeter fence, he says. They managed to cut a lock off a shipping container full of tires. It is not yet known how many, if any, tires were stolen.

Larsens Tire Centre was victimized by thieves who practiced a similar method of breaking in back on Nov. 7.

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