A stolen licence plate spotted at the Langley Walmart led a swarm of Lower Mainland police to a home in Maple Ridge where guns, a radio jammer, and stolen property were seized.
The incident began just before 10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, when members of the Langley RCMP Special Response Team were patrolling and spotted a black Ford Explorer slowly driving around the loading dock area at the Walmart store near 200th Street in Langley.
The SRT members found that the licence plate had been reported stolen from a different SUV of the same make.
The officers called in the RCMP Air 1 helicopter for assistance, and kept following the Ford Explorer, said Cpl. Craig van Herk, spokesperson for the Langley RCMP.
A man left the store and got into the Explorer, and after that the SRT officers tried to pull the vehicle over. Instead of stopping, the driver took off at high speed.
The Air 1 helicopter, however, was already following. The Langley RCMP then called in a number of other agencies, including the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit’s (CFSEU) Gang Enforcement Team and Surrey RCMP’s Gang Enforcement Team. Police followed the Explorer at a safe distance until it pulled into a garage on a residential lot in Maple Ridge.
Ridge Meadows RCMP were also called in for assistance.
As officers approached the home, the garage door opened. The Explorer suddenly reversed out, but got stuck under the partially-open door.
Three people in the Explorer were arrested without further incident, van Herk said.
During the arrest, officers found and seized two rifles, bear spray, a radio jammer, and what van Herk called “a large amount of property” believed to have been stolen from Lower Mainland businesses.
All three arrested people have been released pending further investigation.
Police are asking anyone with more information to contact the Langley RCMP at 604-532-3200, and quote file number 24-4242. To make an anonymous report, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or www.solvecrime.ca.
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Guns, ammunition, and a radio jammer seized after three people were arrested in Maple Ridge following a police pursuit from Langley earlier in February. (Langley RCMP/Special to the Langley Advance Times)
