Theft stops Shuswap business in its tracks

SHUSWAP – A local business owner is calling a theft from her business planned and devastating.

“They broke into the compound, smashed into the truck… moved the trailer and cut all the locks… it was planned for sure,” Barb Rivest of Shuswap Unique Adventure Tours says. “It was my whole business right there, so that sucks.”

A total of eight segways, seven off-road and one city model, as well as an a white Southland horse trailer were taken on Thursday. Rivest says the theft is a $60,000 blow to her business and because it was her entire fleet she cannot operate right now.

“Right now I’m stopped. We hope they’ll be recovered and we can get restarted,” Rivest says, adding this is her fourth season running the Scotch Creek based business. “We’ve never dealt with this before, hopefully we can recover.”

She notes the segways will be hard to sell because everyone will know they’re stolen and they will not be able to have them serviced. The machines were also all alarmed so Rivest is not sure what use they will be to the thieves.

Rivest asks anyone who has information about the stolen segways and trailer to call Chase RCMP at 250-679-3221 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infotelnews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.