Janele DeBalinhard has owned Sexy Kitten Boutique in Courtenay for two years and she’s never had any problems with break-ins, except for one man, who appears to be back at it again.
“Yeah he got a couple of kicks in the door and my alarm went off,” said DeBalinhard. “So I’ve got a very sturdy door, special wrap so, he tried but he did not succeed and you know when you wear sandals you don’t get too far.”
A 71-year-old man was convicted of breaking into the store in early 2018 by kicking in the front door. He stole a large rubber sex toy after casing out the store and the toys during previous visits. After he was caught he spent some time in jail and was ordered not to go near the store or Janele again.
But a man bearing the same description, this time wearing sandals showed up at the store again in the middle of the night last week.
“I had a call from Prices Alarms saying one of the glass sensors had broke on my door and the cops are going to check it out and I checked the tapes and it happened to be someone wearing shorts and sandals and a blue jacket and I didn’t quite get a face because I had my blinds closed,” said DeBalinhard
So Janelle, who already has several security cameras, bought another one and even slept at the store the next night. Sure enough, the man showed up again.
“I knew it was going to be him, he was going to come back because he did last time,” she said. “He has a very repetitive behavior so what do you know three hours later he comes back and I’ve got my car out front and everything. You’d think it would deter him but no he just came back for that door and just kept trying to get in.”
DeBalinhard says she’s not too worried about her safety but is concerned about the bizarre behavior. Police say a man was arrested for breaching his probation and has since been released.
Dean Stoltz
