On Sunday evening, a construction company in Kelowna suffered a costly and sophisticated theft when an all-terrain forklift, also known as a telehandler valued at $80,000, was stolen.
Brandon Rempel, project manager at the site said he received a text from an employee early Monday morning warning that something had gone missing. When he checked the security cameras, he saw footage of someone breaking into the telehandler and driving it away with what appeared to be a SkyTrak key—which can turn on any machine of this model.
Rempel believes that the thieves were part of an organized group given the level of precision required to get past the site’s surveillance cameras and successfully steal such a large machine without being seen. To move the telehander they would have needed to use a semi truck off-camera so as not to tip anyone off.
The police came out and conducted a walk around of the site and forensics were called in due to the size of the theft – new all-terrain forklifts sell for over $200,000 each. In light of this incident, Rempel’s company has been forced to rent one while they assess their next steps.
