Saskatoon police recovered the two vehicles stolen at the warehouse and three people were taken into custody and face charges.
The Secret Santa Foundation’s executive director is still shocked after discovering toys intended for distribution to children in need in Saskatoon next Christmas season were stolen from its temporary warehouse.
Katelyn Bruce estimates the break-in and theft happened sometime between 8:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, after a successful distribution day, and Wednesday morning.Two vehicles were also stolen.
“It’s definitely a shock to me. This is my second year, and so I’ve never really seen something of this sort. I went in the other day and after a really wonderful distribution day, I walked into the warehouse and I … couldn’t believe what happened,” she said.
Each year, they distribute the donations to 800 families, which equates to about 3,200 individuals, of which they estimate 2,300 are children under the age of 14.
“It brings a lot of happiness as well as tears to some of our volunteers, and then of course to our families as well. It’s a very heartwarming experience,” Bruce said.
All of the toys and hampers for the 2022 campaign were distributed. Any surplus toys are packed up and go toward next year’s campaign.
The first sign something was wrong came when she got a call. The Wyant Group had donated the use of four vehicles for distribution day to drive families home with their hampers. An employee said they were still waiting for two of the vehicles to arrive — but she knew no one was out with the two vehicles.
Bruce went to the foundation’s temporary warehouse where she saw the vehicles were gone. Inside the warehouse, she saw the pallets of toys packed away for next Christmas were unwrapped, boxes were sifted through and packages were taken.
Volunteers’ personal belongings and some supplies the foundation uses were also stolen.
Saskatoon police, in an email, said the break and enter/theft is with the call back unit for followup and they received a separate report for the stolen vehicles, which have been recovered.
Police received the report on Dec. 21 that a Land Rover Defender and Toyota Sienna had been stolen from the warehouse in the 600 block of 52nd Street East and the keys for both vehicles are believed to have been stolen from inside the warehouse.
Police said the Land Rover was equipped with GPS tracking and was found in a parking lot in the 3300 block of Fairlight Drive on Wednesday.
On Thursday, police received a report about a sighting of the Toyota Sienna in the 300 block of Cope Lane at about 12:30 p.m. Arriving officers saw three people in the vehicle, two fled from police, but were arrested nearby. The third person remained in the vehicle and was also arrested.
Police say they also found tools stolen from the 300 block of Barrett Street inside the vehicle.
Two men, both aged 28 and a 27-year-old woman are facing several charges including stolen property under/over $5,000, breach of probation, flight from police and operation of a motor vehicle while prohibited.
The investigation continues.
“Those dollars go a long way in allowing us to purchase toys to replenish the inventory that we’ve now lost and hopefully get us on track for the 2023 season,” Bruce said.
Post a Comment