A break-and-enter suspect was nabbed red-handed Tuesday morning in North Vancouver, thanks to quick actions by police as well as an alert business owner who noticed the would-be thieves playing a starring role on his video security system.
At about 6:30 a.m. a restaurant owner received an alert that security cameras inside his business were recording a break-in apparently in progress.
Two suspects had broken into the restaurant in the 3000-block of Connaught Crescent in Edgemont Village through the front door and were captured on video stealing electronics.
The restaurant owner immediately called police and officers were dispatched to the scene. They arrested a man matching the description of one of the suspects a short distance away, on foot. Electronic devices, including iPads worth about $6,000 are still missing from the business. The second suspect has not yet been located.
A charge of break-and-enter has been recommended against a Vancouver man in his 30s, said Const. Mansoor Sahak, spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP detachment.
No other businesses in the area were targeted, he added.
Police advise all residents and business owners to be alert for potentially suspicious activities that seem out of context in their neighbourhood. These can include cars moving very slowly down the street, unknown people loading possessions into a vehicle, property being carried on foot through the neighbourhood, strangers observed in someone’s back yard, and many visitors coming and going from a house at all hours.
Editor's note: In an earlier version of this story, police said the iPads taken from the business had been recovered. They have since clarified this is not the case and the stolen property remains outstanding.