The man arrested for kidnapping a teenage girl from a Maple Ridge mall last weekend has an extensive criminal history that began as a youth with a crew called “The Cop Killin Villains.”
Ian James William Campbell was charged Thursday with one count each of kidnapping using a weapon, attempting to choke to overcome resistance, assault causing bodily harm and unlawful confinement.
He remains in custody, but is set to appear via video for a bail hearing Jan. 31.
The 25-year-old man was arrested around 10 p.m. Tuesday 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,” said Insp. David Fleugel. “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.
Fleugel commends the girl for fighting off her attacker.
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’s criminal history dates back to 2005 and includes 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.
