A teen raising money for a golf tour in Scotland had her donation jar stolen by thieves, only to have a Victoria police officer replace the money out of his own pocket. [Video below.]
Cindy Koira, 14, and her dad had been sitting outside of the Market on Yates for hours on Dec. 30, collecting $160 to help fund her trip to the U.S. Kids Golf European Championship in May.
Cindy went into the grocery store to warm up, leaving her father to mind the table. About 3:15 p.m., a man approached the table, grabbed the jar and fled.
Two men had earlier come up to the table to ask what the donations were for. Ravi Koira, Cindy’s dad, said the pair continued to hang around and eye the jar.
“From the very first time we saw these guys, we had some suspicion,” he said.
Surveillance video released by police shows a man in black clothing walk up to the table from the direction of Quadra Street, take the jar and run back toward Quadra.
Koira ran after the man but fell.
Police were called and searched the area but were unable to find a suspect.
A man in a grey sweatshirt, seen walking just behind the other man in the video, is believed to have been involved, as well.
Police have released a picture, obtained from the video, of two suspects.
Cindy, a Grade 9 student at Stelly’s Secondary School, said she has been selling lemonade, hot chocolate and samosas since the summer.
With $3,000 raised, she is halfway to her goal.
She qualified for the Scotland tournament at the Canadian Junior Golf Association tournament in Chilliwack. She shot a 74, the best score across Canada for her age group.
The officer who responded told the teen he would like to replace the money as a gift.
“It was really nice of him,” said Cindy, who thanked the officer.
The officer who made the donation wanted to remain anonymous, said Victoria police spokesman Const. Matt Rutherford.
“I think it just goes to show that a lot of the stuff we do as police is never publicized, never in the media,” he said, adding: “It just goes to show the type of calibre of membership we have here at VicPD.”
Rutherford said the investigation is continuing.
“It’s a very brazen theft and we’d like to locate and apprehend these two males,” he said. “It’s never good when these types of thefts happen — any theft, for that matter.”
Victoria police ask anyone with information on the theft to call them at 250-995-7654 or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
