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Nanaimo woman arrested for breaking into two police bait cars within minutes

Nov 24, 2017 | 1:13 PM

NANAIMO — A long-standing RCMP effort to curb car thefts managed to catch a prolific thief.

Nanaimo RCMP Cst. Gary O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW 33-year-old Kimberly Taylor was arrested around 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22 after she allegedly robbed two RCMP bait cars.

O’Brien said while police were reviewing the footage from the first bait car in central Nanaimo, a second bait car was activated 16 minutes later. The footage from each car allegedly showed Taylor taking items.

He said Taylor had a shopping list of items to steal from cars, which is common in property crimes.

“When people are prowling at night breaking into cars, they have a list with them that their friends provided of items they’re looking for. Compression socks and hi-top Nikes size 10, perfumes, chargers, it goes on and on. They’re just too lazy to go shopping so they figure if their friend is going to break into a car, they might as well ask for it,” O’Brien said.

Taylor’s arrest is part of a sizeable spike in thefts from vehicles.

O’Brien said in the last three months of 2017 there’s been 57 per cent more thefts compared to the last three months of last year.

“We may have had criminals recently released from jail, we may have new criminals coming into our town, may just have a spike in a certain area. Nevertheless…we’re doing what we can to bring those numbers down.”

Taylor makes her first court appearance, accused of possessing of stolen property on Dec. 5. O’Brien said she’s well-known to local police.

 

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