A vehicle was stolen from Barriere Esso after being left at the pumps with the key in the ignition at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
RCMP report the driver had gone inside the service station’s convenience store while leaving his white pickup parked at the gas pumps with the keys in the ignition.
When the driver exited the store a few moments later, the vehicle was gone.
Surveillance video shows the suspect, wearing black clothing, a face mask and an orange high visibility vest, walking eastbound on Russell Street directly to the vehicle. He then removes the gas pump nozzle, gets into the vehicle, and then departed southbound on Highway 5.
Police report the vehicle was recovered later that day on Squilax Turtle Valley Road near the train tracks in the Sorrento, B.C., area.
Barriere RCMP are asking residents of Haggard Road, Mill Road, Hall Road, and Staines Road in Barriere if they have any information on the identity of this suspect, who appears in the surveillance video dressed in black clothes and with a hi-visibility vest on.
“This is the second theft of an unoccupied vehicle with its keys left in the ignition in that area during the past month,” says Corporal Rob Welsman, Detachment Commander of the Barriere RCMP. “Local residents and travellers are advised to refrain from leaving their vehicles unattended with the keys in the ignition.”
Anyone who witnesses suspicious activity requiring urgent police attention is asked to call 911.
Anyone with information about the theft or who witnessed suspicious activity in the Sorrento area on Jan.4, is asked to contact the Barriere RCMP at 250-672-9918. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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