A male suspect was caught on a security camera at the Kamloops warehouse broken into Jan. 4, 2016.
Image Credit: contributed - dave sakaki
Republished January 07, 2016 - 3:32 PM
Original Publication Date January 07, 2016 - 10:06 AM
KAMLOOPS - A Kamloops firefighter took it upon himself to locate a man he suspects of stealing from a warehouse full of donated items heading to the less fortunate in Nicaragua and says he managed to convince him to talk to police.
Kamloops Fire Rescue firefighter David Sakaki, who regularly makes volunteer trips abroad to help those in need, says he was frustrated when he found out someone broke into a warehouse on Mission Flats Road around 4:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 4.
"I'm just getting tired of it," Sakaki says. "He took our stereo and some bicycle parts. A couple of donations going to Nicaragua and to Syrian families."
He adds this is the sixth time the warehouse was broken into in recent weeks. After posting a security camera picture of the male suspect on his Facebook page, he says a friend notified him when he noticed the man in a dollar store downtown. That's where Sakaki went to confront him.
"He said 'it's not me,'" Sakaki says. "I suggested and convinced him to go to the RCMP."
The firefighter then followed the man who took his suggestion seriously and walked to the parking lot of the downtown RCMP detachment where serendipitously the investigating officer was.
"It was actually fantastic; the investigating officer was right there," Sakaki says.
RCMP are still working to identify the suspect and Sakaki last heard officers were waiting on fingerprints from the man.
Anyone with information on the break-in or the whereabouts of the stolen goods is asked to call the Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
— This story was updated at 3:14 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2015 to include further information provided in an interview with David Sakaki.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016