North Vancouver RCMP have arrested an accused business burglar and two porch pirates.
Around 4:50 a.m. Tuesday, the detachment received a report of an alarm activation coming from a business on Marine Drive near Bridgman Avenue. As officers were gathering evidence from the break-in, another alarm call came in just 10 minutes later from a business only two blocks away at MacGowan Avenue.
Believing the suspect was still in the area, police began to cordon off the area and step up patrols. While waiting for the RCMP’s dog section to arrive, a patrol officer spotted a man sitting at a bus stop. After speaking with him, they quickly determined he was in breach of a probation order and took him into custody. Police searched the man and found evidence to recommend charges of breaking and entering, theft of mail and possession of property obtained by crime against the 27-year-old suspect of no fixed address.
Early the next morning, a Delbrook resident called 911 to report a theft in progress. The victim was out of town but his home security system alerted him to two thieves on his deck stealing a package that had been delivered. Because of the surveillance images being sent to his smartphone, the victim was able give a description of the suspects to police before they fled.
RCMP members on patrol spotted a man and woman matching the description and took them into custody.
Following a search by police, the RCMP will recommend the Crown lay charges of theft, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of drugs for the purposes of trafficking and possession of a dangerous weapon against the 25-year-old Surrey woman, and a 31-year-old man of no fixed address.
"Reducing property crime in North Vancouver is a priority for the community. We have specialised units who use advanced investigative techniques to target these offences, and just as this situation demonstrates, we rely on the community to call us when they see something suspicious." said Sgt. Peter DeVries in a release. "That said, ultimately our frontline patrol officers are at the vanguard of the effort. Fighting crime wouldn’t work without those boots on the ground."
