A Nanaimo family had their Christmas ruined by more than a power outage.
Around 3 o’clock Christmas morning, Joseph Lanz woke up when he heard noises in his home on Stonewater Drive, two blocks off Wakesiah Avenue.
His wife and two boys, aged 10 and 14 were still asleep.
Lanz got up to investigate and found his fridge door open, cupboards ransacked and the front door open.
The gifts, which had been wrapped and placed under their Christmas tree were gone.
He reported the incident to the Nanaimo RCMP and within minutes, officers including a Police Services Dog was on scene.
Officers scoured the area and learned from a resident who had been out for a walk, that he saw two men running through the neighbourhood.
Police located gift wrapping and several gifts in the vicinity of where the two men were last seen but the police dog was unable to locate the suspects.
Investigators determined the thieves got into the house through an unlocked kitchen window and left through the front door to their home.
They made off with the homeowners vehicle keys, two iphone 10’s, Xbox games, clothing and gift cards among other things.
