There must be some bad mojo that comes from stealing Al Capone’s stuff.
For the second time in three years, police have arrested a suspect they say stole from a Horseshoe Bay business owner a 120-kilogram brass propeller that once belonged to the gangster.
The prop, once used on a rum runner for sneaking booze into prohibition-era America, disappeared in the night on Nov. 21 last year.
Several days later, after media coverage of the artifact’s theft, West Vancouver police received a call reporting a similar item showing up in a Squamish scrap metal yard.
Using evidence gathered from the scrap yard, which are now required to get government identification from anyone wanting to resell metal, police zeroed in on 41-year-old Jason Michael Fox of Squamish and sought a warrant for his arrest.
Vancouver police picked the suspect up just outside the Downtown Eastside and arrested him on Jan. 10.
Fox is now facing one charge of possession of stolen property and one charge of breach of recognizance.
The propeller was last stolen in August 2011 before turning up in a North Vancouver scrap yard. Police arrested a 55-year-old man of no fixed address and secured a conviction on possession of stolen property. Police say the two suspects are not connected in any known way.
