Two people are facing a slew of charges after what West Vancouver police are calling a crime spree unlike any other they’ve seen before.
Officers spent much of the day Saturday on the trail of a couple now accused of robbery, multiple car thefts, dangerous driving, theft, evading police and possession of stolen property.
The ordeal began just before noon when someone alerted Squamish RCMP to a suspicious-looking couple in a Mercedes in Lions Bay. When officers arrived, the Benz had been ditched and an older Oldsmobile was reported stolen.
Expecting the suspects to come through town, West Vancouver officers began their hunt, said Const. Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver police spokesman.
After a minor collision with an unmarked police car, officers opted to not get drawn into a chase but rather cut off possible escape routes by closing down lanes on all the roads that run out of West Vancouver, resulting in traffic chaos.
“Certainly people are concerned when they see that kind of an effort underway,” Palmer said. “Pursuits – especially high-speed pursuits – pose special dangers to members of the general public and officers. We were in a circumstance where it was a very high priority to locate and apprehend the suspects but we wanted to do it in the safest way possible. … Although it poses a lot of inconvenience for the public and we’re absolutely aware of that, the tactics that were used are tactics we believe pose the most manageable risk to the public.”
Twice, the suspect vehicle was seen driving the wrong way on Highway 1 to evade police. Around 1:30 p.m., 911 dispatch received a report of a robbery on the 1000-block Inglewood. Police say the suspects pulled an elderly and partially disabled man from his car and stole his wallet. When the victim’s wife tried to intervene, she was thrown to the ground and her purse was taken, Palmer said. “The allegation in that is really quite upsetting,” he said.
An hour later, police received a report of a Porsche being stolen from a home on the 900 block of Cross Creek Road. Police called in the RCMP’s Air 1 helicopter, which quickly spotted them. West Van cops tried to head the suspects off on Cypress Bowl Road and deployed a spike belt, which the Porsche ran over and managed to speed off unimpeded.
The helicopter kept watch on the couple as they got themselves cornered near Whytecliff Park, where they attempted one more robbery before being boxed in on a dead-end road. West Van members used their cruiser to pin the Porsche’s driver’s side door closed and the K9 unit took down the suspects.
Palmer said the affair made for much chatter at the end of the shift. “I can’t recall anything even remotely similar in my time here just shy of 15 years,” Palmer said. “It was just beyond anything that any of the officers I talked to could recall in their careers.”
Rebecca MacDonald, 28, is now charged with robbery, possession of stolen property and carrying a fake ID. Jeffery Loubert is charged with possession of stolen property, dangerous driving, theft, two counts of car theft, robbery, driving while disqualified, and flight from a peace officer.
