Three people have been arrested in a series of thefts from West Shore businesses and construction sites this fall that included the theft of a loaded moving van.
The five-tonne van, containing about $90,000 worth of household items, was later found on a back road in Shirley with help from Sooke RCMP.
Officers tracked down the moving van and concluded that stolen items were being transported from it via a stolen pickup truck to a Colwood residence in the 2300-block of Sooke Road, West Shore RCMP said.
The detachment’s Crime Reduction Unit determined the incident was linked to five reports of break-and-enters and thefts at construction sites and area businesses from September to November, where the majority of goods stolen were expensive tools and equipment.
“This was a complex investigation involving many moving parts,” said Cpl. Danny Grieve of the Crime Reduction Unit.
Grieve said that police received reports of about $200,000 in stolen items and have so far been able to recover about $100,000 worth.
Police are still looking for a number of items, including a S70 Skid Steer Loader and an E20 Excavator Bobcat on a flat-deck trailer — both taken from Deckadence Construction.
Cpl. Nancy Saggar said the fact that six separate reports received on different days and in different time periods turned out to be connected is “pretty rare.”
“We don’t generally see that happen,” she said. “We received some information that helped guide us in that direction.”
A lot of that information came from some of the theft victims, she said.
Nicolas Banks, 36, has been charged with four counts of possession of property obtained by crime, two counts of theft under $5,000 and one count of trafficking stolen property.
Names were not released for two other suspects, a 51-year-old man arrested for one count of trafficking stolen property, three counts of possession of stolen property and one count of mischief to property, as well as a 38-year-old woman arrested for one count of possession of stolen property and one count of trafficking stolen property.
All three suspects are scheduled to appear in court in January.
