Some tools recovered after $5K in equipment stolen from Nanaimo Search and Rescue

RCMP says a handful of tools have been recovered after $5,000-worth of equipment was stolen from the Nanaimo Search and Rescue (SAR) building last month.

During the overnight hours of March 4, a man broke into the Nanaimo Search and Rescue headquarters on Fourth Street and swiped a number of valuable items, including a Spot X satellite communicator, a chainsaw, a defibrillator, and several Milwuakee tools and batteries.

At the time, Nanaimo SAR member Grant Williamson said the theft was “very disappointing” and would impact the budget of the volunteer rescue service.

“You depend on these tools and this equipment to effectively do our job out in the woods to help people,” he told CHEK News on March 5. “Certainly, we have insurance coverage, but there’s always a deductible.”

On Friday, Nanaimo RCMP said three handheld electric tools that were linked to the SAR break-in were recovered from a wooded area near Jingle Pot Road and Third Street.

The tools were among a cache of bikes that are believed to have been stolen, as well as an e-bike and other tools that were reported stolen in other break-ins.

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The stolen bikes are pictured. Nanaimo RCMP

The items were located on April 17 by members of the Nanaimo RCMP bike patrol unit.

Mounties are hoping to reunite the bikes and other items with their rightful owners.

“The bikes that were seized are relatively new and some are of considerable value,” said Nanaimo RCMP on Friday.

Anyone with information on the ownership of the bikes is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.

Police say that some of the other items that were stolen from the Nanaimo SAR building are slowly being found and returned, and many others have been replaced by community members who bought new items for the search and rescue team.

With files from CHEK’s Dean Stoltz

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