Two Nanaimo brothers didn’t shrug off a brazen daytime theft from their home. Instead, they tracked down the thief with an app.
On Tuesday afternoon, one thief went into this Brechin Road home despite several people. He entered a window and walked off with a number of laptops and a camera.
He might have gotten away if one of the home’s residents didn’t spot someone he thought was walking several blocks away.
“I could see the man walking on the street in front of me and I looked at his laptop bag and I thought ‘That looks like my laptop bag. That looks identical. Even the bulge from my cord and my mouse and stuff,'” said David Schule, one of the homes owner’s.
David then discovered it was his home that had been broken into.
He called police and tried to find the suspect but stopped when he was instructed not to follow.
Fast forward to that evening and Schule was monitoring an app called “Find My Iphone”. It showed someone was using his laptop and its location.
“I really didn’t think he was going to come online. I thought he’d be smarter than that knowing every MacBook has that,” said David.
The Nanaimo brothers went to the spot, a downtown Nanaimo coffee shop. That’s where they found a man using the laptop.
“Took him outside and told him we were holding him ’til police arrived and that’s when he produced a weapon,” said Jesse.
“At the time I had no idea if it was a knife or a shank or what it was and I didn’t have time to figure it out so I grabbed him and put him down as hard as I could.”
A video captured some of the skirmish. His brother called police. But after what seemed like 20 minutes they felt they could no longer hold him.
But Justin Payne, who shot the video followed the suspect and pointed him out to police when a cruiser went by.
Matthew Anthony-Cook was charged yesterday with a single count of illegally entering a home.
Anthony-Cook has prior convictions. He was sentenced to an additional 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter in Vancouver in 2013.
“That was shocking. I didn’t even think in my wildest dreams that would be the case. Had I known that I probably would’ve been a little more vigilant in detaining him,” said Jesse.
The Schules would still like the return of a camera and a laptop that haven’t been recovered.
Anthony-Cook is being held in custody until a bail hearing set for Friday.
Kendall Hanson
