It was a relatively calm and crime free summer in Keremeos - up until last week, at least.
Two break ins on Seventh Avenue, that appeared to mirror very similar events last April, left two Keremeos business owners shaking their heads in frustration.
The damage done to gain entrance to both businesses far exceeded the criminal’s take from the crime .
One of the businesses even had a sign on the door that stated there was no cash on the premises, but the criminals broke the door any way.
Perhaps reading is an issue to these people.
Similar break ins along Seventh Avenue in years past have resulted in similar outcomes - damage far exceeding the amount taken from the business.
Earlier this week, police and fire department members answered calls to burning newspaper boxes in the village. In one case in particular, the proximity of the box to other flammable objects was such that this simple act of stupidity could have resulted in a much greater loss of property, or a threat to someone’s life.
The crimes appear to be happening during the early morning hours. As Keremeos detachment commander Martin Trudeau puts it, “There are people out there who definitely know what happened and we want to hear from them.”
The people committing these acts haven’t shown a large degree of intelligence so far, so it would appear they have just been lucky not to have been caught yet.
Hopefully, there’s an early bird in Keremeos who looked out the window or happened on the street at the right time, who can provide the police with the information they need to get this loutish, destructive behaviour off the streets, before serious damage or harm is done.