"A resident went to the laundry room and noticed that the coin mechanism looked broken," said Station 12's Adalbert Pimentel.
When she came back down to put her clothes in the dryer, "She sees two suspects who looked nervous and she asked herself, 'What are they doing here?'" said Pimentel.
The two suspects left as soon as they'd been spotted.
Thieves break into the coin deposit systems in apartment building laundry rooms, often for as little as $50 in change.
"It's a problem that's been going on for a while," said Pimentel. There isn't much that building owners can do to prevent the theft, but Pimentel recommends looking into plastic token deposit devices and other alternatives to cash and installing adequate locks on the door to the laundry room.
"There's one thing that would have helped," he added. "A video camera."
He also said the resident did the right thing by calling police when she noticed the suspicious pair.
Station 12 police took the change box for fingerprinting.
Members of Westmount Public Security are taking part in a 12-hour ski-a-thon on March 14 at the Laurentians' Ski Chantecler resort in a bid to help find a cure for cancer.
Five Public Security officers will participate in the Leucan ski-challenge, also known as Defi Ski 12h Leucan. Jennifer Chabot, Robert Forbes, Tim Beaupré, Kimberly Colquhoun and director Richard Blondin will be collecting donations in support of this event until March 12.
It's the first time Public Security has joined in the challenge, but Defi Ski is celebrating its fourth anniversary. In 2008, the event raised $167,000, up from $79, 685 the year before.
"The participants will ski from noon to midnight," said Andrew Ross, communications agent for the City of Westmount. "It's an important effort, so we wanted to jump on board."
Leucan is a non-profit organization founded in 1978 with a mission to enhance the well-being, healing and recovery of children with cancer and ensure support for their families. Besides its headquarters in Montreal, Leucan is present in nine regions in Quebec and has more than 7,000 members. For more information on how to make a donation, please contact the Public Security Unit at 514 989-5222.
