A West Vancouver police officer’s hunch that there was something suspicious about an early-morning cyclist recently resulted in the recovery of almost 90 stolen items including backpacks, tools, passports, bank cards and electronics, including a laptop and cellphone.
The cyclist first attracted the attention of the officer, who was heading to work, around 7:40 a.m. June 21 when he was spotted without a bike helmet in the area of Park Royal Shopping Centre’s south mall.
As well as the lack of a bike helmet, the cyclist also appeared to have “an inordinate amount of property with him,” said Const. Jeff Palmer, spokesman for the West Vancouver Police Department.
A search quickly turned up a passport that clearly did not belong to the cyclist. After further investigation “it became clear he had large amounts of property on him that could not be lawfully explained,” said Palmer. Items included electronics, and tools from screwdrivers to bolt cutters.
Not long after, the West Vancouver Police Department began receiving phone calls from residents reporting thefts from seven vehicles in the Bayridge area. Officers linked the recovered property to several of those thefts.
Some recovered property was also linked to a pickup truck that was reported stolen the night before from a home in the 4000 block of Ripple Road and recovered in the 4100 block of Ferndale Avenue.
Police are recommending eight charges including possession of stolen property and possession of break-in instruments against a 36 year-old Surrey man.
