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Young Sea Cadets on Vancouver Island had spent more than a year collecting bottles for a fundraising drive, only to be left heartbroken when someone stole them all.
Surveillance video captured a man breaking into a seacan at the 325 Admiral Waller Royal building on Eustace Road in Sooke on Oct. 10.
The thief broke off the key press before going inside and taking the donations.
“To us it would’ve been a couple hundred dollars, which is valuable money that I’m sad to lose,” Jaime Eaglestick, president of the Navy League of Canada Sooke Branch, said.
“This is our main kind of steady income that we can rely on monthly.”
Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers is circulating the surveillance video, calling the theft “downright deplorable.”
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“So, we just wanted to have the public be aware of this and see if anyone could identify this individual,” Staff Sgt. Greg Wilcox with Sooke RCMP said.
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The suspect is described as a man, wearing a jacket with stripes on the cuffs and waist and sporting some unique shoes.
Sooke RCMP confirms it is investigating.
“This is a very unfortunate incident,” Wilcox said.
“These young people spend a lot of time fundraising, and these bottle drives go towards a number of activities that they have.”
The Sooke community has stepped up already with donations to cover the loss.
As for the money in the thief’s pocket, the Sea Cadets say they hope it helps him stay afloat.
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“Would I hope they did it again? No,” Eaglesticke said.
“But I also understand that we are humans and we need to survive, and that we need to show compassion.”
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