It usually happens in the dead of night.
A man drives up to a parked car on a quiet street, gets out and smashes the driver-side window. Sometimes he’ll grab something if it’s there, other times he doesn’t take anything at all.
He repeats the cycle over and over again, staying busy by targeting, in some cases, nearly 50 cars in one evening.
This is the MO of the man Burnaby RCMP are convinced is behind a rash of theft-from-vehicle incidents plaguing the city in the last couple months.
In all, police believe the suspect is behind 350 incidents, including 47 this past weekend on three separate Burnaby streets.
On Tuesday, local Mounties stepped up their efforts to nab the crook, both by releasing more details about the crimes along with video surveillance and still images of the suspect in hopes of generating tips from the public.
“It’s very disturbing this person has not been caught yet,” said RCMP Cpl. Daniela Panesar. “That’s why we’re working on it and appealing to the public, and hopefully someone will be able to help us identify this individual.”
She noted the acts appear to be random, but mostly they occur to vehicles parked on residential streets in the early morning hours between 3 and 7 a.m.
And the suspect is picking neighbourhoods throughout the city. Panesar said investigators don’t have a suspect in mind, but Burnaby RCMP’s prolific offender team has been tasked with finding the person responsible.
In the last couple months, the NOW has received numerous calls and emails from residents and victims upset about the car break-ins on their street, in both south and north Burnaby.
While RCMP have issued warnings to residents to keep valuables out of their cars, they gave no indication all the incidents were linked until this week.
Panesar said police didn’t want to jeopardize the investigation by appealing to the public.
Besides being annoying for the victims who have to go through the process of filing a claim and repairing their damaged vehicles, the spree is getting costly for ICBC.
The RCMP noted a typical claim costs the insurance company about $1,000. With 350 reported incidents and counting, the figure could top $350,000.
Along with the video and pictures, police also offered a description of the suspect, who is described as a tall man with a slim build.
The vehicle is described as a late 90s, light coloured four-door sedan with a large dent on the passenger- side door.
Anyone with information about the crimes or can help identify the suspect is asked to call Burnaby RMCP at 604-294-7922.
