RCMP used spike belts to disable a U-Haul van and apprehended three break-and-enter suspects who abandoned the vehicle and fled into the woods in the Horne Lake area last weekend.
Oceanside RCMP Sgt. Shane Worth said police dog Niro and additional officers from Comox Valley and Port Alberni located the suspects — two men and a woman from Nanaimo — after about three hours.
Police also recovered the stolen goods — two generators that were stolen in separate break-ins on Thursday and Sunday nights at the same business at Horne Lake.
RCMP said they were alerted by lake residents late Sunday night about a suspicious U-Haul van linked to the earlier break and enter at the business.
Oceanside RCMP officers attempted to stop the U-Haul on the Horne Lake/Cook Creek forest service road with spike belts, but the van fled toward Cook Creek.
The van was later located at the north end of the forest service road near the Inland Island Highway, where it had been disabled by spike belts.
The van continued for a short distance on the service road, and the suspects fled.
RCMP discovered the stolen generators from both break-ins on a spur off the forest service road. The property was recovered and returned to the owners, said police.
The three suspects were released from custody to appear in court at a later date.
“This is another great example of alert citizens calling police to report suspicious activity in their neighbourhood,” said Worth, adding the call was “instrumental” in the arrests and the return of the stolen property.
