‘We were looking at a huge financial loss’: Nanaimo RCMP arrest suspects, recover nearly three dozen stolen NHL jerseys

'We were looking at a huge financial loss': Nanaimo RCMP arrest suspects, recover nearly three dozen stolen NHL jerseys
Nanaimo RCMP
Gilbey on the left, with his employees showing off just some of the stolen items.

A local Nanaimo store manager is feeling a sense of relief after a quick response from Mounties led to the recovery of three dozen stolen NHL youth hockey jerseys on Friday.

According to police, the incident took place early Friday morning at approximately 2:30 a.m. when two thieves allegedly broke into Kirby’s Source for Sports located on Bowen Road.

Nanaimo RCMP say that the two suspects made quick work, breaking into the sporting goods store and stealing upwards of 70 items, including nearly three dozen hockey jerseys.

Upon arrival at the scene following the theft, store manager Zack Gilbey showed officers video surveillance of the incident. The cameras captured a suspect entering the business twice and grabbing as many jerseys as he could in the process.

The suspect loaded the jerseys into a pickup truck waiting outside before the vehicle fled the scene, heading southbound on Bowen Road.

Police say that nearly one hour later, officers spotted the suspect vehicle being driven along Terminal Avenue and pulled it over.

In the vehicle was a suspect who matched the identified man in the surveillance footage. The stolen jerseys were also in the vehicle.

The suspect, a 48-year-old man, and the driver, age 40, were both promptly arrested then transported to the Nanaimo RCMP detachment.

The 48-year old faces one count of Break and Enter, while the 40-year-old is facing one count of Possession of Stolen Property. Both men were released from police custody on Undertakings, with a court date pending of February 22, 2022, in Nanaimo Provincial Court.

Police say that Gilbey was ecstatic at the recovery effort, feeling a sense of relief that the stolen items were found.

“We were looking at a huge financial loss to replace these items. We’re just so relieved and grateful for getting them all back and for the quick and efficient response by the officers involved.”

All of the recovered jerseys will be returned to the store once investigators have had a chance to catalogue each of the items.

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