Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford’s constituency office (101 - 1493 Johnston Rd.) was left “in shambles” after a break-and-enter over the holiday period.
Halford noticed the destruction after receiving a note from his landlord that there was a flood in the building. Halford said he came to check on the damage at 12 p.m. Jan. 3.
“Then I noticed that the whole office has been trashed,” Halford said. “They went through everything.”
Halford said the individual or individuals stole a hard drive that contained security camera footage, broke several desks, and pried open locked filing cabinets. Halford said the crime was committed sometime between Dec. 25 to Jan. 3.
“Everything that’s sensitive, we have to have them in locked files, which we do,” Halford said. “They’ve jimmied some of those open, but we’re going through those to make sure that they didn’t take anything.”
Halford said his staff took their computers home for the holidays.
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“We’re doing an inventory list to see if they have stolen anything. We don’t have a cash register… they may have broken in here thinking there is computers.”
Halford said his office does have an alarm system, but they have yet to determine whether or not it was set up.
“They were somewhat sophisticated because they picked the lock. They didn’t smash a window. It wasn’t a smash and grab or anything like that,” Halford said.
Halford said White Rock RCMP have “been great” and are currently collecting evidence.
White Rock RCMP Const. Chantal Sears confirmed its Forensic Identification Section and general duty investigators have opened an investigation.
“Our investigation is in the early stages and is ongoing. We have not identified any suspects nor have we determined what the motivation was at this time,” Sears said in an email.
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