(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

A Kamloops man has twice retrieved his daughters bike after it was stolen, finding it at the same housing project both times.

The most recent time was last week, when a thief cut a bike lock at Value Village and left with her e-bike on Oct. 24.

He went to where he found his daughter's e-bike the last time it was stolen three years ago, spotted a man riding it in front of Mission Flats Manor less than an hour later after the lock was cut.

The vigilant father reached out after reading another iNFOnews.ca story about property crime downtown. He did not want his name to be published because a woman in that story was threatened by thieves she was outing, fearing he would suffer the same recourse.

"Because of retaliation in this town, I'd prefer my name not being involved in it," he said.

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He came to learn the suspected thief was living at the former Greyhound station shelter, but his mail gets delivered to Mission Flats. The mail was already stashed in a bag on the bike by the time it was retrieved.

"If you have a criminal, you still put a roof over their head?" he recalled asking the shelter employee when he showed up to find the bike.

The man who he believes stole the bike, and whose mail he still has, has more than 20 criminal files in B.C. from the last 20 years. Many are in Kamloops, but also extend to Prince George, Kelowna and Merritt.

Service providers are also frustrated by ongoing crimes in the community, like Alfred Achoba of Canadian Mental Health Association Kamloops.

"Theft everywhere is high. People are desperate. People are at a point now where there is no consequences for their actions — there's no enforcement," he said when asked about stolen phones that were recently tracked to the bus station shelter in Sahali.

His organization operates the shelter, where he said shelter workers check for stolen goods regularly.

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"We do bag checks and we shut down twice a week to go through people's belongings," he said, adding that there's also a one-bike policy for clients at their shelters and housing sites.

"Anyone who is caught stealing, there are consequences. I really encourage (victims of crime) to contact RCMP and have them come to us. We would give them full access."

The mental health association was previously the primary service provider for emergency shelters, until it recently backed out of the program. The two new shelters were set to open Nov. 1. Achoba said he's tired of temporary measures, moving homeless people from place to place, without adding housing stock for more permanent options.

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The unnamed man who retrieved his daughter's stolen bike was told by RCMP that it was unlikely the thief would be charged. The suspect said he bought the bike from someone else, and police essentially wrote the file off since prosecutors are unlikely to take the case without a substantial likelihood of conviction.

B.C. is one of two Canadian provinces where prosecutors must approve charge recommendations from police, rather than police laying charges themselves.

"The cop thing gave me a lot of dismay. They were giving the file to a constable going on injury leave for two months. All of them said nothing would happen with it," he said. "If I didn't get my bike back, they'd put a lot more effort into it."

In his eyes, his return to the same housing project showed him service providers like ASK Wellness and the mental health association are overburdened and underresourced to handle the ongoing social issues in Kamloops.

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