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
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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.
Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Rail said the officer was on a regular patrol when she spotted the unusual activity.
The officer did arrest the woman, but not for the tree theft. The Mountie recognized that Tatum Lynn Leonard was wanted on another matter.
Leonard is charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm for an alleged incident on Nov. 20, 2019. She appeared in court on Dec. 10 and is next due in court on Jan. 7, 2020.
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See www.theprogress.com to watch the video.
