Oak Bay Police responded to a home in the 2100-block of Newton Street following a call from a homeowner of a man sleeping under his back deck around 8 a.m. on June 12.
When police arrived they found two men behind the home, waiting for the homeowner’s 40-year-old son to meet them there. The two men and the son are all well-known to police. Apparently unknown to the two men was the fact that the son was no longer living in his parents’ home.
The area under the deck was packed full of items, said police. As they began to look around, they noticed that several of the objects matched the description of items that had been reported stolen from unlocked vehicles the day before.
Twenty-eight items were seized from under the deck. All are believed to have been stolen from vehicles in Oak Bay and along the Saanich/Victoria border. Discarded packaging and other signs led police to believe that many other stolen items have since come and gone from the space.
More than 100 gift cards, including Oxfam cards of $58 and iTunes cards of $25, were found among the stolen items, said police.
Police were able to return keys, a briefcase and a brand new food processor to victims of theft the day before. A passport will be returned to its owner in Victoria, a phone has been returned to an Oak Bay resident and a GPS unit has been returned to its owner in Saanich.
Oak Bay police still have many more items such as cameras, bags of clothing, first aid kits, tools and video game systems that are believed to be stolen but have not yet been reported.
The importance of reporting any theft of property, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could help police in returning seized property and might even assist in helping police to solve other crimes, said Chief Const. Mark Fisher.
The investigation into just how prolific the three men have been in their apparent criminal activities is ongoing.
