Thieves stole some cash, expensive equipment, supplies and electronics after a break-in at a plaza in Cambridge overnight.
It happened at the Smart Centre on Pinebush Road at Hespeler Road, late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.
Waterloo Regional Police spokesperson Olaf Heinzel says "As you can see our patrol officers responded this morning, we received a call shortly before nine o'clock that some incidents had occurred here. Our forensics unit has been on scene gathering evidence and we've assigned it to our detectives for follow up."
It appears that the thieves pried open a back door to get into the Magicuts Salon, stealing expensive equipment, cash and hair care products.
Tammy Schaefer works at Magicuts and says the person opening the store saw "something from the back, I guess the debris on the floor, so she just opened the door walked right out and called 911."
The thieves smashed through walls at the salon to gain access to the neighbouring Rogers and Telus stores, though it appears they were only able to get a handful of electronic items from Rogers.
Repairing the damage is expected to cost thousands of dollars on top of the cost of the stolen items.
Magicuts supervisor Michelle Leal believes she lost about $2,000 worth of equipment.
"We have damage in our salon and we also have property that's personal to us and I have a pair of barbering shears, that's $800…and I will never be able to get those back."
There was a similar incident at the same plaza three years ago, and charges were laid in connection with that incident.
"September of 2009 we had similar incidents at this location…we actually ended up working with outside police agencies and some arrests and charges were laid in connection with those incidents," Heinzel says.
There has been some speculation that the proximity of the shopping plaza to Highway 401 and the GTA could mean that people from out of town could be involved.
But Heinzel says "Our detectives will need to do some work in that regard as to who those suspects are and we're looking for any help from the public as well if anyone saw anything.'
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 519-650-8500 Ext. 2299 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
