Work was underway Tuesday morning cleaning up the debris at the Midas on the Island Hwy. following a break-in and theft of two vehicles. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

SMASH AND GRAB

‘They just drove the cars right through the bay doors:’ brazen vehicle theft from Nanaimo auto body shop

Aug 9, 2022 | 10:22 AM

NANAIMO — A local mechanic will be closed until they can re-secure their shop after an overnight smash and grab saw significant damage and two vehicles inside the shop stolen.

Alarms rang at Midas in the 1800 block of the Island Hwy., near Brooks Landing, on Tuesday, Aug 9 around 4:30 a.m. after multiple thieves gained access to the shop’s interior.

Thieves stole two vehicles inside the business to flee the scene.

Store owner Kevin Goldsbury told NanaimoNewsNOW cameras picked up the vehicles being backed out of the garage at high rates of speed, however he said images of the suspects were not captured.

“We keep the doors locked, we had a couple of cars in the shop. They found that the keys were in them…they just drove the cars right through the bay doors and took off.”

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Goldsbury added keys are typically stored in the office, and this is one of the first incidents of its kind he’s aware of in his 45-year career.

His team is working to secure the shop and face a repair bill of at least $40,000 to replace the doors.

Goldsbury said his team can’t work with the shop unsecured, so the business will miss out on revenue from those appointments as well.

Significant damage was caused to two bay doors at the Midas auto repair shop near Brooks Landing Shopping Centre. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The store’s staff are tracking inventory to determine if any other items were stolen and are spending Tuesday cleaning up the substantial mess left behind.

“We’ve been broken in before, they take tools and equipment and stuff so we try to lock up the diagnostic equipment and everything, you assume the cars are safe, the bay doors they can’t open. You wouldn’t think they’d drive through it.”

Nanaimo RCMP confirmed access was gained by a rock being thrown through the bay windows before the cars were used to smash out of the business.

One of the stolen vehicles was a white 2019 Ford F350 Super Duty pickup truck, with no license plate or VIN noted, which Nanaimo RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien said was a rental vehicle.

The second vehicle was a 2009 black Subaru Forester owned by an individual from Vancouver, with the B.C. license plate LF1-61C.

O’Brien said both vehicles will have significant rear end damage.

“This would have caused a lot of attention, a lot of noise so if anybody was out and about at that time, you heard something or saw vehicles taking off, please give us a call.”

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Nanaimo RCMP at 250 754 2345, quoting file number 2022-27497.

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