Kitchener-Waterloo·Photos

Stolen truck used to steal bank machines from The Aud, say police

Police are investigating after a stolen truck was used to break into The Aud early Wednesday morning and two bank machines were stolen.

Entrance ripped apart in destructive robbery

Thieves may have used a stolen truck to break through a set of doors at the Kitchener Auditorium to steal two bank machines early Wednesday morning, police say.

Officers were called to The Aud around 4 a.m. after receiving reports of a break in through entrance seven, which is the Stirling Avenue entrance and near the administration offices.

Police arrived to find extensive damage to the doors, which had been pulled from their hinges, and near the stairs where the ATMs were located. There were tire marks on the floor and a stone wall across from where the machines sat was also damaged.

Police said a truck believed to have been used in the heist was stolen and was later found about 5 km away on Otterbein Road.

Paul Pickard, general manager at The Aud, said the damage surprised him.

"To see that someone had the intestinal fortitude to drive a vehicle right through the entrance— I was kidding with staff earlier. I told them that I had an open door policy, but I mean, literally, there's an open door," he told CBC News at the scene.

Pickard said The Aud does not have security cameras that could have recorded the break-in.

Andrea Bellemare