Braden Boyer chased the ATV rider across Overlanders Bridge on Sept. 6, 2022. A similar ATV was stolen from Brocklehurst just three days earlier.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Braden Boyer
September 08, 2022 - 7:00 AM
Braden Boyer started taking photos when he came across a suspicious looking ATV under Overlanders Bridge in Kamloops Tuesday night.
It was on the Rivers Trail in Kamloops, on the north side of the Thompson River, where he saw a man strapping a bike and other items to the back of the quad.
Boyer was riding his e-bike around 9:30 p.m., Sept. 6, when he spotted the ATV. A man hopped on and fled as soon as he saw Boyer was taking photos.
"He fired it up as soon as he saw me," Boyer said. "With my phone out, I must have spooked him."
READ MORE: Victim of Saskatchewan stabbings described as 'hero and true matriarch'
Before calling police, Boyer followed the rider up Rivers Trail before he sped across the bridge and turned toward Mission Flats. He said the rider was laughing as he drove away, seeing that Boyer was still recording.
The driver had no helmet on and turned onto the exit so fast he was on two wheels, Boyer said.
CONTENT ADVISORY
Video Credit: SUBMITTED/Braden Boyer
"I followed him for quite a ways toward the dump where he was hiding in the bushes," Boyer said.
Boyer called 9-1-1 to report the reckless rider on what he believed to be a stolen ATV, but the suspect took off before police could get there.
READ MORE: Boat bursts into flames in Kelowna after engine wouldn't shut off
"They called me back half-hour later to ask for license plate," Boyer said.
RCMP are looking for dash cam footage to help track down the ATV's owner.
Boyer said the likely owners reached out to him after he posted the video to social media. Although he didn't get a license plate on the ATV, the possible owners had theirs stolen from Brocklehurst just three days earlier.
The Polaris Sportsman ATV was attached to a utility trailer, which Kamloops RCMP found near Ord Road around 6:45 p.m., Sept. 3.
The owner, Jennifer Betts, said it was one of two ATVs on the trailer. They were chained together before she left on vacation that morning, with a chain running through the wheels of the trailer.
"They dragged the trailer down the road, blew up the tire, then took my quad because it was the better of the two," she said.
Betts recognized it to be her ATV as soon as she saw Boyer's video.
Aside from wanting her ATV back, her adult daughter is still at home while Betts is on vacation, worried about thieves returning.
"She's been scared ever since. She's worried they're going to come back, and she's being extra vigilant now," she said.
Boyer had hoped that by posting the video to social media, he could help the the owners get their ATV back and help police catch the suspect.
"This poor person's nice machine was getting bagged around town. It sucks to see," he said.
Boyer managed to take photos of the ATV parked under the bridge before the rider fled toward Mission Flats.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Braden Boyer
— This story was updated at 8:04 a.m., Sept. 8, 2022, to clarify Jennifer Betts's daughter is an adult.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2022