West Kelowna family wakes up to door open and items stolen

A West Kelowna family is confused and frustrated after an early-morning break-in along Old Okanagan Highway on Saturday.

Brandon Travis says he woke up just after 9:30 a.m. to find the front door of his house was wide open and the lock was removed.

Travis says he quickly checked his cameras to see what happened.

"Upon reviewing the camera I can clearly see a middle-aged male breaking into the garage very quietly and with no care of the very visible cameras. He was in my house for an hour."

Travis says the male suspect stole his welder, plasma and a number of other tools.

"I called 911 right away. I was told an officer would be by so I stood at the end of my driveway for about 45 minutes still in shock and thinking in my head this could’ve ended so differently. What if the thief had gotten through the second door to where my family was sleeping?" Travis said.

The West Kelowna resident says while he was waiting for police he uploaded the video to Facebook, and within minutes, people throughout the community start posting links to a prolific Kelowna offender.

Still waiting for police, Travis says he called dispatch back and passed on the name of the offender that was believed to be inside his home.

Several hours later Travis says he received a call back from RCMP who had yet to come to the home.

"The officer stated the reason he didn’t return any of my calls until 2:44 p.m. was because 'we are so backed up with files right now, and a few other things, that might be very true."

Travis says he was told RCMP are investigating the incident.

"I would have liked an officer to come out here and actually looked around the area. The guy could have still been hiding in the backyard."

Travis says he and his family felt like they were in danger.

"The last message I got from the officer yesterday was that he was picking away at my stuff in between files because we are short on resources."

Castanet has reached out to RCMP for comment and is awaiting a response.