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Penticton  

Boonstock 'security' on camera

A video has emerged which appears to show two 24/7 Security guards, hired for Boonstock, attempting to hide a bottle of vodka from Last Call Liquor Mart in Penticton.

The owner Fred Vassilaki posted the video after 8 p.m. Saturday night. In the video the two men are seen looking at vodka, then one of them appears to hide a bottle in his clothes. The security cam footage shows Vassilaki as he approaches the men and then walks off screen. Then one of the guys comes back to the aisle and a bottle of vodka falls from his pant leg, which he then returns to the shelf. 

"Nothing pisses me off more than people stealing stuff, especially from my own store," Vassilaki said. "These idiots were still wearing their security shirts." 

"I haven't called the RCMP because [the two men] didn't leave with anything, so there's nothing they can do."

According to Vassilaki, police wont charge anybody unless they actually walk out of the store with something in their pants.

"I've had this problem many times before." 

Cst Kris Clark said "The theft has to be completed, certainly that's an element of the offence. If the theft is not completed, then no theft occurred." He added that no reports of other such incidents have come to his attention.

Vassilaki said he went to the 24/7 Security Facebook page and emailed them the video. "Since then it seems they've taken their Facebook page down, because I couldn't get back to it."

A woman named Navneet Dhaliwhal left comments on the video Vassilaki posted, apparently offering to fire the two men involved. In her Facebook picture she is wearing 24/7 Security clothes, but it's not clear how she is affiliated with the company.  

Otherwise, Vassilaki says business has been good for Last Call Liquor Mart since Boonstock began. 

"This was an unfortunate incident. Business has been great for me with Boonstock, it's just theft really gets me. It's a complete lack of respect for me and my store and other people's personal possessions - whether it was Boonstock security or not."

This is the first instance of attempted theft Vassilaki has seen since the festival began although he admits there may be others he did not catch.

Calls to 24/7 Security were not returned. 



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