Napping B.C. business owner foils vehicle-ramming robbery attempt

A destructive Langley, B.C., break-in effort was foiled this week, acknowledgment to a business proprietor who’d made nan threat determination to slumber connected his couch.

It happened connected Wednesday, astatine a business parkland connected 201 Street adjacent 96 Avenue successful nan Township of Langley.

Terence Sawtell was moving precocious astatine his business Hang Tight, erstwhile he decided to return a nap connected nan shop couch.

That’s erstwhile he heard thing smash into nan neighbouring business, Wiser’s Wide World of Collectibles.

“Saw immoderate lights, a car was benignant of doing immoderate backmost and forth, and past retired of nowhere, backed up, afloat speed, rammed into nan point and I’m laying connected nan couch, panic, I tally to nan backmost of my shop, he keeps going backmost and distant ramming it much and more,” he said.

“It was conscionable a really large crash, really low, you could show nan personification evidently deed it pinch velocity — astatine first I thought it was a drunk driver … and past it conscionable repeated 4 much times.”

Sawtell ran to nan backmost of his shop and hid down his car while he called 911.

He said Langley RCMP were connected nan segment wrong 5 minutes and quickly apprehended nan fishy who had filled a garbage container pinch items from nan collectibles business.

“I was conscionable benignant of freaked retired and scared. Like if personification is consenting to do that, put themselves successful that benignant of harm, if it someway gets to maine they are astir apt consenting to do thing astatine that point,” he said.

“I wasn’t down for a conflict against a car and a personification evidently pinch very small attraction for their ain bodily harm.”

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The shop beforehand for nan collectibles business suffered important damage, including a smashed model and door, on pinch structural harm to nan building’s frontage.

Wiser’s Wide World of Collectibles declined to comment.

“It’s not nan first clip this twelvemonth that business was nan target of a break and enter,” Langley RCMP Const. Simon Lepine said.

“Our members are doing proactive patrols each nighttime to forestall those events, that’s why that nighttime we were truthful quick.”

Phillip Sprentzel, 39, is facing charges of break-and-enter and possessing stolen property.

Sawtell said nan business has been nan target of 3 break-in attempts successful our months, but that successful nan past it’s been difficult to drawback nan personification responsible.

“The RCMP serviceman was like, ‘What are nan likelihood of you being present astatine this time,” Sawtell said.

“I’ve virtually stayed connected this couch, successful 2 years, twice.”