North Vancouver RCMP are looking for a suspect who stole North Vancouver City Fire Department uniforms, warning that they may be put to use by impersonators.
According to investigators, a thief broke into a drycleaning business on West Third Street, just south of Capilano Mall early in the morning on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Surveillance video from the business shows the masked suspect going for four fire department shirts with NVCFD crests and two pairs of black pants.
North Vancouver RCMP spokesperson Const. Mansoor Sahak said investigators do not know what the thief’s motives were, but he said police are mainly worried that the thief will use the uniforms to impersonate firefighters to help them commit other crimes.
Sahak said he didn’t want to “give the bad guys any ideas” on how they could put the uniforms to misuse, but he did specify that North Vancouver City Fire Department members do not carry out fire inspections of people’s homes.
“They only do commercial fire inspection and it’s usually set up through appointments only. So a resident living in a house should not be expecting a fire department official checking the smoke alarm,” he said.
Sahak said if someone is presenting themselves as a fire official, don’t hesitate to ask to see proof.
“They do have multiple forms of identification to identify themselves, and all fire departments carry ID badges, so there’s ways to identify if somebody is real or fake,” he said.
On Tuesday, investigators released footage of the suspect inside the dry cleaners in hopes that someone may recognize them and call the police.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the North Vancouver RCMP at 604-985-1311 and quote file #2024-20392. Those who wish to provide information but want to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
