Police discovered a large number of stolen items, worth more than $100,000, while investigating a house fire in Buffalo Creek late last month.
Staff-Sgt. Svend Nielsen said police were called to the fire, in the 5300 block of Bissett Road, on July 29, to investigate the matter as potential arson. During the initial investigation, one man was arrested for obstruction as he kept attempting to enter the scene after being told to leave.
Once the fire was contained, Fire Rescue and BC Wildfire, along with RCMP, search the area for potential victims or injured persons. Police recovered a large amount of stolen property, including multiple ATVs, dirt bikes, custom cabinetry and granite countertops, as well as chainsaws and other tools and equipment. There was even a portal sawmill.
Transporting all the items back to town for storage took several hours and involved several flat deck loads, courtesy of Bridge Lake Towing.
Two suspects, well known to local police, were identified and recommended charges will be forwarded in the coming months for possession of stolen property. The man arrested for obstruction was later released, but local RCMP will be seeking a summons to court at a later date.
Nielsen said a large number of the stolen items were returned to their owners who had previously reported the thefts but there are still a substantial number of items currently being reviewed and processed. 100 Mile House RCMP are creating a binder for individuals to come to the detachment and look through to see if any of the recovered items belong to them but asks the public to be patient as it may take a couple of weeks.
Individual photos are being taken of each item and then inserted into a photo book with the proper coding for the exhibits to easily track and account for each item returned.
Anyone with information is asked to call the 100 Mile House RCMP at 250-395-2456 or BC Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477). Please refer to 100 Mile House RCMP file 2021-3077.
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