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Man found sleeping in stolen car in Burnaby faces charges

A man who fell asleep in a stolen car in Burnaby got a rude awakening yesterday. He woke up to find his vehicle surrounded by police cruisers and Mounties ready with handcuffs.
Stolen vehicle
Burnaby RCMP arrested a man who had fallen asleep in a stolen vehicle Thursday.

A man who fell asleep in a stolen car in Burnaby got a rude awakening yesterday.

He woke up to find his vehicle surrounded by police cruisers and Mounties ready with handcuffs.

Police were called to the area of Second Street and 12th Avenue at about 11:10 a.m. for reports of a suspicious vehicle in the residential area, according to Burnaby RCMP.

The occupant was in the vehicle and appeared to be sleeping, and the person who called it in hadn’t seen the car in the neighbourhood before, police said.

When the responding officers ran the plates, they found the car had been reported stolen in Coquitlam, so they pinned it in with their cruisers and put the police dog service on standby in case the suspect bolted.

In the end, however, the man was arrested without incident and now faces possible charges related to the stolen vehicle, according to police.

“Luckily, an alert citizen in our community noticed that something was suspicious about this vehicle and reported it to us,” Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Brett Cunningham said in an emailed statement. “The quick thinking of this citizen and the planning by our frontline police officers allowed us to take the suspect into custody safely.”

Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com