Seven charges have been laid against a Surrey man for kidnapping a teenage girl from a Maple Ridge mall and assaulting her.
Ian James William Campbell, 25, faces charges of kidnapping, producing an imitation firearm, choking, assault, assault with a weapon, unlawful confinement, and auto theft. He made his first court appearance Thursday, Jan. 24 and he has been remanded in custody.
This matter is now before the courts. I do want to commend our investigative team for their diligence in working around the clock to pull this case together,” Insp.
David Fleugel said. It is a complex investigation, and there is still work to do. I would again like to thank all citizens who provided information that allowed investigators a chance to solve this incident so fast. It speaks to the great relationship Ridge Meadows RCMP has with their citizens, and how we all can pull together to keep our communities safe.
Campbell was arrested around 10 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22 in Vancouver by members of the Vancouver Police Department’s Emergency Response Team and Ridge Meadows RCMP’s Street Enforcement Unit.
His arrest came after a public appeal by police for tips in the violent abduction of a 17-year-old girl from Westgate Centre on Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge.
“Shortly after we released the suspect’s picture, we started to receive tips,” Fleugel said previously. “That allowed us to quickly identify and then locate the suspect. I’d like to acknowledge and thank the public for the valuable information they provided police. We all benefit when citizens are so engaged in working with police toward the safety of their communities.”
The girl was standing outside her place of work when she was approached by a man on foot around 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19.
According to police, the man told the teen he needed help to start his car.
The girl went to help the man, but he produced a gun and forced her to drive her car, a red 1993 Honda Civic, out of the mall to a secluded area, where police say he physically, but not sexually assaulted her.
Badly beaten, she still managed to fight him off, ripping a gold cross from him during the struggle, and escaped to a nearby house, where police were called.
After police appealed for information, several other women contacted investigators, saying they were approached by a similar man near Westgate mall.
Officers obtained surveillance footage from a nearby business and released a photo of the alleged abductor.
Police sources say Campbell shaved his head after the public appeal, but his photograph was recognized by corrections officers and other police officers.
Campbell has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2005, including convictions for assault, flight from a peace officer and theft.
According to court records, Campbell was sentenced in 2008 to four and a half years in prison for stealing a car and leading police on a high-speed pursuit that ended with the death of passenger.
At that time, Campbell was part of a group of Surrey teens who called themselves “Cop Killin Villains.”
In a stolen SUV, Campbell rammed a police cruiser twice, prompting one of the officers to shoot and kill one of three passengers – 16-year-old Kyle Tait.
Appeal court documents reveal Campbell came from a dysfunctional family and spent his early years in foster care.
Police are also investigating whether the 25-year-old is linked to other robberies across the Lower Mainland.
Campbell is known to use the alias James Austin, as well as James Scott Calegerro, James William Smithe and Alexander Robert Dunphy.
Sgt. Lindsay Houghton with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit though hasn’t heard of the “Cop Killin Villians” in years.
Rather than being a street gang, the CKV was a group of teenage thugs.
“You get a group of teenagers together and they call themselves whatever they want, but six months later, they’ve gone separate ways and nobody remembers what they called themselves,” said Houghton.
