A Chilliwack RCMP officer just before detaining a woman seen on security video ripping a chunk out of a cedar hedge on Williams Street in Chilliwack early on Dec. 10, 2019. (Rob Iezzi/YouTube)

A Chilliwack RCMP officer just before detaining a woman seen on security video ripping a chunk out of a cedar hedge on Williams Street in Chilliwack early on Dec. 10, 2019. (Rob Iezzi/YouTube)

The Grinch who Stole a Hedge: Security camera captures Chilliwack tree theft

RCMP arrives as person calmly walks away with tree in downtown area

  • Dec. 10, 2019 12:00 a.m.

There are a number of ways to get a Christmas tree in Chilliwack, from garden centres to grocery stores to local tree farms to a hike into the woods.

One bad way to get a Christmas tree is to rip a chunk out of a cedar hedge on a residential property and walk off with it. But that’s exactly what was captured on security camera by a downtown resident who is getting well-known for his security videos posted on YouTube.

Over the years, Rob Iezzi’s security cameras have captured fender benders, property thefts, pedestrians being struck, even possible evidence of a vehicle fleeing a homicide scene.

READ MORE: Chilliwack man has surveillance video of possible homicide getaway car

READ MORE: VIDEO: Pedestrian struck by vehicle downtown Chilliwack caught on security camera

But at about 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday (Dec. 10) his cameras caught a bit of a Christmas debacle.

“She has found her perfect Christmas tree, even though it’s part of my neighbour’s hedge,” Iezzi noted on his YouTube channel along with the video footage.

In the edited video, a person is seen walking west on Reece Avenue and across Williams Street. At the corner of Reece and Williams she (it appears to be a woman) is seen yanking hard for more than a minute a chunk of the cedar hedges surrounding the home. Eventually, after some hard work, she pulls out a Christmas-tree-sized chunk of hedge, pops it on her shoulder, and casually starts heading east on Reece.

A few seconds later a Chilliwack RCMP vehicle pulls up beside her from behind with lights flashing. Shortly after that, the cruiser pulls away with her inside, tree left next to the sidewalk on the median.

A Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson said he would look into the result of the incident.


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