A police pursuit of a suspected bike thief ended with a 39-year-old man diving into the freezing waters of the Fraser River.
Shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27, Richmond Mounties responded to reports of a theft in progress at an apartment complex in the 6000 block of London Rd in Steveston.
A suspect was confronted when he was spotted with what appeared to be a resident’s bike. The suspect then fled south on foot towards Steveston Harbour, where it’s thought he dived into the water in an attempt to escape.
With the assistance of the Police Dog Services and the Steveston Harbour Authority, the RCMP set up a containment perimeter and searched the docks.
“When the suspect was located and arrested, he was hiding in a washroom and suffering from signs of hypothermia,” said Richmond RCMP’s Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
“The waters were obviously bone-chilling. A subsequent search of the surrounding area located a fraudulently-obtained rental truck, loaded with several stolen bicycles. The suspect, a 39 year-old Caucasian male, was arrested. He is known to police.
“Even though this individual was a suspect in a crime, his health and condition were very concerning to our officers. They provided the suspect with access to a hot shower on site to keep his temperature up before other emergency medical staff could assist him.”
Several of the recovered bikes, added Hwang, were marked for identification and police are currently working to return them to their rightful owners.
