A Kelowna store owner is warning other businesses after a man pulled off a bold theft.

The incident happened on Friday at about 8 p.m. at the Knox Mountain Market and was captured on surveillance camera.

“It’s just really pathetic people stealing from a mom-and-pop store,” he said. “We struggle to make a living, we work pretty hard and to have something just taken from us is really pathetic.”

An employee was assisting a customer and stepped away from the cash for a brief moment when a man dressed in all black leaned over the counter and stole a row of lottery tickets. 

“He had an accomplice waiting outside in the car,” said store owner Brent Smith. 

Smith said the value of the lottery tickets is about $300, but he thinks the thieves might have had a different plan.

“I don’t really know if that was what their intention was,” he said. “They might have been setting up to rob the place and when there was a steady stream of people in there they may have just chosen to steal the tickets.”

Anyone who recognizes the man is being asked to contact RCMP and the footage was handed over to police.

Smith said the quality of images is clear enough he hopes someone recognizes the man and no one else is stolen from.