Burnaby’s Studio Brewing recovering after break-in that caused “a few bumps and scratches”

The staff at South Burnaby’s Studio Brewing have had quite the week.

Early Monday morning, the popular local brewery was broken in to and was forced to close for a day due to the damage caused by the incident.

Kathryn McKinney, Studio’s front of house manager, told the Beacon that staff learned of the break-and-enter after the business’ alarm system was triggered. “When that happens, the alarm company notifies the police right away. So police were basically on the way by the time I got the call,” she told the Beacon.

According to Cpl Mike Kalanj with Burnaby RCMP, officers arrived on scene shortly after 12:30am to find the suspect still there. The suspect had smashed two windows and caused “extensive damage” inside the business. Officers said they tried to verbally de-escalate the situation, but the suspect was “incoherent and acting unpredictably,” said Kalanj.

An officer then deployed a conducted energy weapon. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to hospital. One officer also sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital.

McKinney said the suspect used a kettlebell and caused serious damage to the door used for to-go orders. “It’s basically broken beyond repair,” she said. The building’s large patio window has also been destroyed.

Luckily, there was no damage to Studio’s brewing equipment. “None of the operational equipment is destroyed and all of the damage is cosmetic, basically,” she said.

The Studio team quickly rallied together to clean up the mess left behind which included a lot of broken glass. They were able to reopen on Tuesday but let their patrons know they’re still dealing with “a few bumps and scratches.”

McKinney said Studio has received an outpour of support from the community in the past few days.

“We’ve had … several emails from our vendors. And then on Instagram, we’ve had a couple of posts that I’ve seen so much support and just love for the community there,” she said. “And …. people even just coming in checking in on us and saying, ‘Oh, I saw the news and wanted to make sure everyone’s OK,’ and it’s been really, it’s great to see the community [support from] Burnaby and just the Lower Mainland as a whole.”