Prolific car thief operating in North Van
The North Vancouver RCMP are asking for the public's help in catching a prolific thief of Subaru vehicles in the city and district of North Van.
Cpl. Richard De Jong, spokesman for the North Van Mounties, told The Outlook that the thief — or possibly pair of thieves — has stolen 18 late-model Subarus from North Vancouver since January.
Oddly, said De Jong, all of the vehicles have been found just days later in one six-block area of Burnaby near the intersection of Kingsway and Edmonds Street.
"It's not like they're being stripped apart or found with their wheels missing or anything," De Jong said.
There's no evidence either that the cars have been used for joyriding, committing crimes or to enrich the thief in any way.
"There's minimal damage from breaking in, just the ignition's been punched and that's it," he added.
The thief appears to favour late 90s to early 2000s model 4-door Subaru sedans, but so far North Van Mounties aren't sure why.
"Now he's got a pattern developed and it's hard to tell why he's doing it," De Jong said, adding the thief may just be doing it for the bragging rights.
North Vancouver RCMP believe the thief may live in the area of Burnaby where the cars have been turning up and are working with Burnaby Mounties and the RCMP's Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) to solve the thefts.
North Vancouver Mounties are reaching out to the public to provide information in these cases to Cst. Paul Bentham of North Vancouver at 604-969-7510, or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
tcoyne@northshoreoutlook.com
twitter.com/toddcoyne
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