Photo: Contributed

“It was pretty brazen.”

Downtown restaurant co-owner, Dan Bronswyk is feeling rather irritated after an intruder walked into Bread Co. Sunday afternoon and stole from his employee. 

The chef noticed the culprit walk into the establishment from the backdoor around 2:40 p.m., while the restaurant was open to the public. 

“She was working on line and she looked over towards the backdoor and a fellow was standing there smoking, which she thought was strange,” explains Bronswyk. 

The chef then called out the unknown man where he got spooked and ran out into the alleyway. 

“She was like where did he go? She couldn’t find him after running down the alley - she didn’t know which direction he went,” says Bronswyk.

That’s when all the employees were encouraged to check their lockers to ensure their belongings weren’t stolen. 

“It turned out our dishwasher’s jacket and wallet was missing.”

Bronswyk says the backdoor is left unlocked because the staff goes in-and-out all day through that exit. 

“We always tell everyone to keep everything locked, like we have lockers in the back to keep their personal property in there locked or if you don’t keep anything out with any value.”

This isn’t the first time the Bread Co. has dealt with a theft in their downtown location. 

“They went into our back window one night and they go through our cars on a regular basis - we have to make sure they’re locked,” says Bronswyk. 

He’s noticed a lot of people like to walk through the back alley at all hours and they look at vehicles and if a car is unlocked they will rummage through the employee's glove boxes. 

His message is simple to everyone else out there, “keep everything locked.” 

The theft has been reported to Kelowna RCMP. If anyone has any other information, please contact the local detachment.