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Two face charges in vehicle theft
Man arrested for theft of own vehicle from Whistler impound yard

Two Surrey men are facing multiple charges — one for the theft of his own vehicle from an impound yard — in relation to a pair of incidents that occurred last week in Whistler.

The saga began on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at around 3:50 a.m., when a 23-year-old Surrey male was stopped in his vehicle and charged with impaired driving and driving over .08 after failing a breathalyzer, RCMP Sgt. Steve Wright said on Tuesday (Nov. 3).

On the same day at around 6:30 p.m., RCMP officers responded to a report of break-and-enter in progress at the Payless Auto Towing yard. The office had been broken into and the keys to a vehicle that had been impounded earlier in the day, along with the vehicle itself, had been taken, Wright said.

During their investigation of the matter, police who went to the place where the vehicle’s registered owner was staying and noticed that the vehicle was parked in front of the house. Also, the man who had been arrested earlier in the day was present at the home, Wright said.

At around the same time, the Surrey RCMP detachment issued an arrest warrant for the second man on two counts of alleged breach of probation. Joshua Mark Barsalou, 23, of Surrey, was arrested at the Whistler home. He is charged with impaired driving, driving over .08, break, enter and theft, possession of stolen property and driving while prohibited, Wright said. He is set to appear in court on Nov. 18.

The vehicle’s owner, meanwhile, faces charges of break, enter and theft and possession of stolen property. His identity was not made public pending the Crown’s approval of charges.

“It was a busy day for our members trying to sort that all out,” Wright said.

Safe, sane Halloween

Halloween (Oct. 31) was a relatively quiet one for Whistler RCMP in spite of the fact that it fell on a Saturday this year, Wright said.

“The Village was full, but we had no major incidents to report. It was a great night,” he said.

Police made seven arrests for people being drunk in public and/or causing a disturbance, a total that is “normal for a Saturday night,” Wright said. Police also made two arrests for possession of small amounts of the drug Ecstasy, he said.

Thefts from vehicles reported

Police received four reports of thefts from vehicles in the past week, including two overnight on Saturday-Sunday (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) on Lake Placid Road. In one instance, a person’s suitcase and other personal items were stolen, Police are investigating.

Cash, bike stolen

On Friday (Oct. 30) a residence in the 2100 block of Sarajevo Drive was broken into after the front door was left unlocked. Stolen were an unspecified amount of cash and a Norco mountain bike valued at $600, Wright said.

Debit-card machine stolen

On Monday (Nov. 1) between 3 and 5 a.m., a taxi cab was broken into in Whistler in the underground parkade at the Delta Whistler Village Suites. Stolen was a portable debit-card machine. Wright said police have contacted the machine’s manufacturer and were assured that someone in possession of one of the machines would not have access to personal or account information, nor would someone be able to use the machine to “skim” information from debit cards.

Credit-card abuse reported

On Tuesday (Nov. 2), a Whistler resident reported that her credit card had been used for transactions in Vancouver, Burnaby and Abbotsford in spite of the fact that she was in possession of her card in Whistler the whole time. This is the second such instance in as many weeks. Wright said Lower Mainland RCMP are investigating.

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