Mounties in Mission, B.C., are crediting an “astute citizen” who took cellphone video of what turned out to be a crime in progress with helping to identify a suspect in a rash of catalytic converter thefts. The woman witnessed what the Mission RCMP described as a brazen daylight theft on Sept. 2 when she saw a man “crawling underneath a parked vehicle” and suspected he was stealing the device. “She was able to film the man as he walked away, and notified police about the matter. While the video did not show a clear image of the suspect’s face, it did provide other useful descriptors for the man,” a statement from the detachment said. Two days after the woman’s report, another theft was reported. Two days after that, another two parked vehicles were targeted “Thanks to the cellphone footage provided by the first witness, Mission RCMP had a solid suspect description and kept a lookout for the man throughout the weekend,” the statement from Mounties said. The man was arrested on Sunday, and police found a catalytic converter and a saw when they searched him. The suspect is not being named because charges have not been approved, but the statement form police said he is from Alberta and recently arrived in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. “Mission RCMP highlight this as a good example of the community and police working together to solve crime,” Mounties said, in the statement. Anyone who has had their vehicle’s catalytic converter stolen but has not yet reported it is being asked to contact the detachment.
