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Who steals a castle, and why? And worse, at least in the annals of crimes against children, who would be so Grinch-like as to steal a bouncy castle?
That’s what Beechwood Market manager Chris Penton is wondering after person(s) unknown pilfered the red, blue and yellow play structure on which young visitors to the outdoor Saturday market have for the past year and a bit leaped, bounced and ricocheted while their parents shopped for baguettes, radishes, artisan cheeses and Himalayan dumplings.
A police report has been filed regarding the missing air-filled fortress, but a deflated Penton is at a loss to reconstruct the crime. True enough, the castle was left outside, as was customary, behind the old Caisse Populaire at 99 Beechwood where the market sets up and where it takes three people each week to fold the 400-pound citadel onto a pallet on a dolly and tuck it away in a corner. But Penton guesses that it would have taken three or four able-bodied highwaymen to heft the mansion onto the back of a pickup truck.
“This wasn’t easy to move,” he says. “It was folded up and hidden away. You would never just happen upon this thing. and if you did, you would just think it was a lump of rubber. Maybe I was naive, but I thought no one would take 400 pounds of rubber. But they proved me wrong.
“I think this had to be planned ahead of time.”
Penton doesn’t believe it was an inside job, though, noting that hadn’t noticed any market patrons recently eyeing the PVC manor with a larcenous look in their eye.
The facts of the thievery, meanwhile, are few. The bouncy castle — a Blast Zone model owned by property owner Claridge and estimated to be worth about $3,500 — was last seen in its usual storage spot on Thursday, July 23. Two days later, when Penton arrived at 6:30 a.m. to inflate the palace to its full six-metre-square majesty, it was gone. The parking-lot cameras that the Caisse might have used before it closed a few years ago were, in the way that these things often happen in mysteries, inoperative.
Penton quickly scrambled to borrow some toys, crayons and crafts for last Saturday’s market, but says it just wasn’t the same without he castle. “This thing was a centrepiece, it was the staple. It was an institution. The kids gathered and it was kind of a discount babysitter while their parents shopped and had breakfast.”
He estimates that in excess of 50 children played in the castle each week.
“It’s left a void,” he adds of the theft. “And last weekend, these kids came up, and to see that disappointment on a four-year-old’s face … you lose sleep at night.”
Penton, meanwhile, seems uncertain as to what a police investigation, should one proceed, might yield.
“I haven’t heard of a string of bouncy castle thefts. But maybe this is the first. Who knows?” (A quick Google search suggests that bouncy castle thefts are more common than one might expect, and almost a national pastime in Britain. Visit bouncycastleowner.com for more information)
“There are only two reasons you’d take it, right? To use it or to sell it.”
Regarding its current whereabouts, Penton has a warning for any robbers who might now be removing their running shoes to bounce on their ill-gotten booty. A friend of his who is a helicopter pilot has promised to keep his keen eye out for it.
In the meantime, he’s shopping for a replacement castle that he hopes to have in place for Aug. 8. Readers who can help in that procurement or want to donate toys, or who might have information about the theft, can reach him at beechwoodfm@gmail.com.
bdeachman@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
That’s what Beechwood Market manager Chris Penton is wondering after person(s) unknown pilfered the red, blue and yellow play structure on which young visitors to the outdoor Saturday market have for the past year and a bit leaped, bounced and ricocheted while their parents shopped for baguettes, radishes, artisan cheeses and Himalayan dumplings.
A police report has been filed regarding the missing air-filled fortress, but a deflated Penton is at a loss to reconstruct the crime. True enough, the castle was left outside, as was customary, behind the old Caisse Populaire at 99 Beechwood where the market sets up and where it takes three people each week to fold the 400-pound citadel onto a pallet on a dolly and tuck it away in a corner. But Penton guesses that it would have taken three or four able-bodied highwaymen to heft the mansion onto the back of a pickup truck.
“This wasn’t easy to move,” he says. “It was folded up and hidden away. You would never just happen upon this thing. and if you did, you would just think it was a lump of rubber. Maybe I was naive, but I thought no one would take 400 pounds of rubber. But they proved me wrong.
“I think this had to be planned ahead of time.”
Penton doesn’t believe it was an inside job, though, noting that hadn’t noticed any market patrons recently eyeing the PVC manor with a larcenous look in their eye.
The facts of the thievery, meanwhile, are few. The bouncy castle — a Blast Zone model owned by property owner Claridge and estimated to be worth about $3,500 — was last seen in its usual storage spot on Thursday, July 23. Two days later, when Penton arrived at 6:30 a.m. to inflate the palace to its full six-metre-square majesty, it was gone. The parking-lot cameras that the Caisse might have used before it closed a few years ago were, in the way that these things often happen in mysteries, inoperative.
Penton quickly scrambled to borrow some toys, crayons and crafts for last Saturday’s market, but says it just wasn’t the same without he castle. “This thing was a centrepiece, it was the staple. It was an institution. The kids gathered and it was kind of a discount babysitter while their parents shopped and had breakfast.”
He estimates that in excess of 50 children played in the castle each week.
“It’s left a void,” he adds of the theft. “And last weekend, these kids came up, and to see that disappointment on a four-year-old’s face … you lose sleep at night.”
Penton, meanwhile, seems uncertain as to what a police investigation, should one proceed, might yield.
“I haven’t heard of a string of bouncy castle thefts. But maybe this is the first. Who knows?” (A quick Google search suggests that bouncy castle thefts are more common than one might expect, and almost a national pastime in Britain. Visit bouncycastleowner.com for more information)
“There are only two reasons you’d take it, right? To use it or to sell it.”
Regarding its current whereabouts, Penton has a warning for any robbers who might now be removing their running shoes to bounce on their ill-gotten booty. A friend of his who is a helicopter pilot has promised to keep his keen eye out for it.
In the meantime, he’s shopping for a replacement castle that he hopes to have in place for Aug. 8. Readers who can help in that procurement or want to donate toys, or who might have information about the theft, can reach him at beechwoodfm@gmail.com.
bdeachman@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
