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North Van burglaries spike before Christmas

North Vancouver RMCP are reporting a rash of burglaries in the run-up to Christmas. According to police, there have been 15 unsolved daytime break-and-enters since November in neighbourhoods across the City and District of North Vancouver.
break ins

North Vancouver RMCP are reporting a rash of burglaries in the run-up to Christmas.

According to police, there have been 15 unsolved daytime break-and-enters since November in neighbourhoods across the City and District of North Vancouver.

In most cases, the thieves let themselves through easily opened windows, unlocked back doors or garages and helped themselves to jewelry, laptops, cash and bicycles.

“With the holiday season upon us, people do leave expensive items out underneath the tree,” said Cpl. Richard De Jong, North Vancouver RCMP spokesman.

On at least three occasions, the victims caught the suspect in the act.

“People come home to their master bedrooms being ransacked. The whole house gets ransacked so it’s very traumatic for those people to come home to that,” De Jong said. “If you’re found in such a situation, safely remove yourself from the residence and call 911.”

Investigators have collected fingerprints and other forensic evidence from some of the crime scenes and they do have some leads, De Jong said, but in the meantime, they are asking the public to be watchful and do some target hardening around their homes, like using deadbolts, alarms and dowels to brace windows closed.

“If anyone has seen anything suspicious, we are really actively investigating this because B&Es are often very brazen but they often go unnoticed because people think it’s normal for someone to walk up to a house and disappear around the back,” he said.

Anyone with information regarding these criminal investigations is asked to call the North Vancouver RCMP at 604-985-1311 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or go online to Solvecrime.ca.