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A string of crimes

A phone call to the police in the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 2, prompted a quick response by Bowen Island RCMP and led to the apprehension of two men who were charged with breaking and entering and possession of stolen property. Const.

A phone call to the police in the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 2, prompted a quick response by Bowen Island RCMP and led to the apprehension of two men who were charged with breaking and entering and possession of stolen property.

Const. Bryan Mulrooney was called out in the middle of the night by a Bowen resident who reported her car stolen. "She called me at 3:30 a.m. and said that her car was gone from her driveway," he said.

Mulrooney went to the Tunstall Bay area and located the car not far from the property by the side of the road with a damaged ignition. "Obviously, someone had tried to steal it," he said.

On his way to the site, Mulrooney saw a white pick-up truck on the road. "I thought it was suspicious to see the vehicle at this hour but I didn't stop it as I was looking for a different car," Mulrooney recalled. "As I was leaving [the area where the car was reported stolen], I got the call that the alarm at the General Store had been set off."

Mulrooney explained that, when the alarm is activated, the alarm company contacts the owner of the property to verify the situation. At the Snug Cove General Store, the owner had arrived and realized that the store had been broken into.

On his way back to Snug Cove, Mulrooney encountered the same pick-up truck and pulled it over. He suspected that it was stolen and also discovered two bottles of whiskey.

"I apprehended the two men and charges of breaking and entering and possession of stolen property have been laid," he said, adding that the perpetrators had been caught on the store's video surveillance tape - they had kicked in the windows and taken a couple of bottles of whiskey.

Other objects that were seized from the pick-up truck include a black winter jacket (Firefly brand) and a black Sony Ericsson Xperia cell phone and the RCMP is asking the public for any information on the ownership of those items.

Later that day, Mulrooney got another call. "It was a report of a burned-out car in Cape Roger Curtis," he said.

Mulrooney remembered that in his conversation with the island resident who had reported her car stolen, she mentioned that she had heard a loud car speeding toward Cape Roger Curtis during the course of the night.

Based on this information, he thinks that the incident is related. Mulrooney believes that the original call, that led him to encounter the pick-up truck on the road, contributed to the quick apprehension of the two men.