THUNDER BAY — It was quite the surprise Thursday morning for Crystal Co and Aundrea Rajamaki when they arrived at their business to find the front door smashed and their till-computer missing.
“When I came in I noticed something was off and found our front doors smashed and our POS (point of sale) system missing,” said Co about the robbery of Up Shot Coffeehouse. “I called the police and couldn’t get through to the non-emergency line until around 10:30, so we didn’t clean it up until then.”
In a turn of events, Co said a woman called them from a dental clinic on Victoria Avenue and said, “I saw some guy walking around with a computer and I think it’s yours.”
The caller was Lauren Hogan, a dental administrator from McCartney Dental office.
Hogan arrived at work and noticed an individual who was hunched over and roaming the parking lot. As she entered the dental office she noticed he was carrying a rock and “computer-ipad type device.”
“It looked very suspicious to me,” she said.
Hogan watched the man from her window and checked her Instagram. She discovered a post from their neighbouring Up Shot Coffeehouse that said they had been broken into.
“I put two and two together because our dental office is close to them and called Upshot and asked if they were missing items like the device the man was carrying,” she said.
Aundrea Rajamaki took the call, confirmed the robbery and took Hogan’s information. She then set out to find the man.
Driving through the area laneways, she found the man with her computer.
Co said Rajamaki didn’t want to confront him and just asked him, “Hey can I buy that off you?” and he said, “Ya. Twenty bucks.”
Meanwhile, Hogan says she told her boss about the unfolding events in their morning meeting and decided to take a walk later in the area to see if the man had “ditched” the computer. But before she could head out, she received a call from Rajamaki thanking her for her efforts, assuring her that the item was now retrieved and inviting her for treats at Up Shot Coffeehouse to meet each other.
“It was really touching,” said Hogan. “What were the odds of that, signing onto Instagram, seeing that and putting it all together?”
Hogan says she is worried and wonders if the dental office might be the next target. “We have a big glass door,” she said. “I’m glad I saw the Instagram post and called her because now she got it back . . . and that’s so great.”
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