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Kelowna  

Owners of Players Choice Sports slept in their store overnight after smash-and-grab theft

Slept at store overnight

Madison Reeve

The owners of Players Choice Sports in Kelowna stayed overnight at their store on Monday to ensure the suspects from Monday morning's smash-and-grab didn't return.

Katie Jenion says she and her husband, Jason Wobshall, are still tallying damages after their storefront was smashed by a stolen white 2004 Ford F550 flatbed truck.

The incident occurred just after 4 a.m. Monday along Banks Road.

“We are tired, we are exhausted. We stayed overnight just to make sure everything was safe and to guard the place while we get everything in place to increase security,” she said.

Police say they continue to investigate, and at least two suspects are involved in the incident.

“One suspect we believe is a Caucasian male who entered the store wearing two hoodies—one white and one red. He was also wearing a black jacket, jeans, and runners,” said Cpl. Michael Gauthier.

Police have yet to identify the second suspect, who was the driver.

Jenion says they will be stepping up security measures.

“This whole glass… we have to figure out how to rebuild this, and then get more security so that it doesn’t happen again. That’s a really big expense we’re working on,” she said.

The Kelowna RCMP is also recommending that businesses dealing with crime reach out to the City of Kelowna and contact the community safety branch.

“[Reach out] for a CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) consultation. They’ll send an employee out to assist you—essentially target hardening your business. Each location is different. In some cases, we had cement bollards, which prevent vehicles from driving up to the property,” Gauthier added.

Jenion says she hopes to be back open by Thursday at the latest, but she and her family, along with the business, will be dealing with the aftereffects of the theft for a while.

“The biggest thing is we just gotta keep going. It sucks that business is like this in Kelowna. As a small business, we’re pouring everything into what we do to make this a fun place and a safe place to come. To then know that people are just that ignorant to think they can just smash things… It sucks,” she added.

Anyone with information regarding this break-and-enter is asked to phone the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300 and reference police file number 2025-3377.



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