Residents of a Nanaimo neighbourhood banded together, gardening tools in hand, to catch a criminal in a scene straight out of a classic movie last week.
Police were called to a home in the Cedar neighbourhood, in the 2400-block of Yellow Point Road, after a homeowner came face-to-face with an intruder.
Police say a struggle ensued between the two, with the suspect taking a blow to the head and losing what officials described as a “significant amount of blood.” Although injured, the suspect escaped.
Officers deployed K-9 units to search the area but to no avail.
However, the suspect’s luck ran out when he tried to break into another home only two kilometres away hours later. Immediately, Cedar neighbourhood residents put two and two together and noticing his definitive head injuries, they phoned police.
The group of locals worked quickly to stop the man, not wanting him to get away twice.
Armed with their trusty gardening tools, they cornered the suspect and prevented him from fleeing before the police could arrive.
The suspect, a 34-year-old man with no fixed address, was eventually arrested and taken to the Nanaimo hospital for treatment before being transported to the Nanaimo RCMP detachment where he was held overnight.
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“We are pleased that the suspect was eventually located and that none of the home owners were injured while trying to subdue him,” Const. Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP.
Investigators later determined the suspect was subject to four outstanding warrants from North Cowichan. No charges have been laid in the break and enter.
Roger Collins
