A seafaring fugitive ended his four-day-long crime spree by breaking into a Bowen Island residence early Sunday morning and crawling into bed after allegedly stealing boats from multiple islands stretching from Salt Spring to the Sunshine Coast.
The boating bandit arrived on Bowen around 8 a.m. by a stolen motorboat that he crashed “hard” into some rocks before swimming ashore at Hood Point.
The heavily damaged boat was discovered by a Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue crew based in Horseshoe Bay who were responding to a call about a boat adrift near Bowen Island.
Rescuers were shocked by the “substantial, concerning” amount of blood found inside the boat.
“He broke the entire windshield above the steering wheel with his head,” said Jane Maisonville-Phillips, RCMSR regional development officer.
Responding RCMSR members went ashore and asked the owners of a residence, near to where the boat was tied up, about evidence of an intruder.
After finding a pile of unknown belongings at the front door of their guest suite, the homeowners opened a bedroom door and saw the suspect sleeping like Goldilocks clutching a jar of pineapple juice, said Phillips.
When Bowen police showed up, they found the residents of the home waiting outside and the suspect inside laying groggily in the bed.
“He had a towel wrapped around his head and blood on his shoulders,” said Bowen Island RCMP Cpl. Paulo Arreaga.
Paramedics stabilized the injured suspect and he was then taken away in police custody to Lions Gate Hospital for further treatment.
Now police are left to piece together the “unbelievable string of events that would more likely be seen in a James Bond film than around the coastal communities of British Columbia,” said Const. Harrison Mohr, spokesperson for the Sunshine Coast RCMP, which is heading up the multi-jurisdictional investigation.
So far investigators know the events started on June 29, when a man reportedly stole a five-metre fibreglass boat from Vancouver Island’s Cobble Hill area, which is 45 kilometres north of Victoria. Police later observed the same man in a boat near Cowichan Bay, however he saw police and quickly fled in another boat.
Three days later the same suspect pulled into a dock in Sechelt aboard an eight-metre Boston Whaler, which had recently been stolen from Salt Spring Island and was later found to be full of stolen property. The suspect left that boat behind and stole a car parked nearby.
The next day, July 3, the man abandoned the car in Gibsons before stealing another Boston Whaler from the local marina, which he escaped in to Keats Island. Once there, the suspect switched boats and stole a six-metre Campion Explorer that he took to Bowen Island and crashed on Sunday.
Police say the suspect was found with a small amount of what they believe to be methamphetamine.
The man was released from hospital the same day and transported to the North Vancouver RCMP detachment and has since been charged with a string of offences.
Robert Nicholas Eriksen, a 25-year-old Vancouver Island man, is facing charges including possession of stolen property, three counts of theft of a motor vehicle, three counts of theft over $5,000 and two counts of break and enter.
Eriksen is in custody and was expected to appear by video to face charges Thursday in Sechelt provincial court, which is handling the case.
Numerous property owners in the affected communities are now dealing with recovering their stolen property and adding up the extensive damage done.
“At this point I think the Bowen Island residence was the only one that there was a confirmed break and enter, but we’re still very much looking into all of his activities during the course of the crime spree,” said Mohr.
The boat burglar is known to police. “He was, I think, very well aware of how to very efficiently steal a boat and steal a car,” said Mohr.
Arreaga, meanwhile, said the case serves as a reminder to Bowen residents about the importance of reporting suspicious activity to police and keeping homes, vehicles and boats secure. As police continue with their investigation, they are asking anyone with more information to contact the Sunshine Coast RCMP at 604-885-2266 and quote file number 2016-4026.
