File # 14-32567
Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Listen: Two Arrested after Break and Enter that Saw Bikes, Electronics Stolen
Victoria BC – Two thieves were arrested after VicPD was alerted to a break and enter in progress early Saturday morning.
Officers were called to the 2500-block of Wark Street at approximately 5 a.m., after the manager of a building in the area called to report two men skulking in the secured underground parking at an apartment building. The caller said that the men were moving around bicycles and appeared to be looking in vehicles.
Numerous officers arrived to set up a containment area. It was at that time that officers discovered a secondary route out of the building. They also spotted two high-end bikes lying next to the door that marked the secondary exit. As the officers were setting up additional containment near this exit, two men came out.
A VicPD K9 officer and partner were waiting for the pair. Once they came out they were told they were under arrest. One man, seeing the wisdom in not fleeing with a police dog hot on his trail, stopped and was arrested without incident. The second man, however, chose differently. He jumped on a bike and rode off. Officers gave chase on foot as additional officers flooded the area, but the suspect briefly eluded them.
Once the first suspect, a 22-year-old Victoria man, was arrested and in custody, the K9 team set to work tracking the other man who had evaded VicPD’s fleet-footed officers. The bicycle the suspect was riding was found dumped a few blocks away, and that’s when Police Service Dog Uno took to the track.
PSD Uno and his partner Cst. McLeod tracked the suspect through a field near SJ Willis School and up and over towards the parking lot nearby. PSD Uno eventually focused his attention on a grouping of bushes, where the second suspect was hiding. Suddenly seeing the error of his previous decision to flee, the man then quickly surrendered. The 25-year-old Victoria man was arrested without further incident.
Electronics, high-end bikes and a Jaguar hood ornament were all located on the second suspect. Officers are now in the process of reuniting the property with the rightful owners.
VicPD officers are recommending both men be charged with break and enter, mischief under $5000 and possessing break in instruments. A charge of disguise with intent is also being recommended against the second suspect.