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Police searching for suspects related to string of vehicle break-ins

Eight vehicles in Whistler and five in Pemberton were reportedly broken into on the same day last week
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Grainy security footage of a man police believe could be responsible for a string of vehicle break-ins in Whistler and Pemberton last week. Image provided by Whistler RCMP

A rash of vehicle break-ins reported on the same day last week in Whistler and Pemberton could be related, and police are looking for two possible suspects after an eye witness account.

The morning of Wednesday, March 12 Whistler RCMP were notified of eight vehicles in an underground parkade in the 4200 block of Blackcomb Way that were broken into and rummaged through overnight. Each vehicle was entered through a smashed side window, police said.

The same day, police received reports of five more vehicles in the 7400 block of Frontier Street in Pemberton accessed "in a similar fashion," according to Whistler RCMP Sgt. Rob Knapton. He was unaware of the items reported stolen, or their estimated value.

An eyewitness told police of a man and woman departing the scene of the alleged break-ins in Pemberton in a older model blue Dodge Caravan, and security footage also captured an image of the male suspect. He was described as being light-skinned, possibly First Nations, around 5'10" and 170 pounds with stubble on his face, wearing dark blue Levi's jeans, a dark jacket, and carrying a shoulder bag.

The female was described as wearing leopord-print pants.

Alaskan tourist Robin Wood owns one of the cars that was broken into in Whistler, and allegedly had an iPod stolen. He said the suspect or group of suspects appeared to have been in a hurry, and left several valuable items behind.

"It looked like a smash and grab," he said. "It had to have been for how many cars were hit."

Wood said he probably won't bring his car to Whistler in the future, but the alleged theft wouldn't deter him from coming back to the resort.

"It's really unfortunate, but I don't think it reflects the community. Everyone I ran into was really nice and helpful, but it'd be nice if there were more preventative measures (in place)," he said. "More of a deterrent to prevent this type of thing from happening would, I think, be fairly reasonable and easy enough to implement."

Police nab alleged drug-dealing duo in Village Square

After police received several complaints of drug dealing taking place in the Village Square area of the Stroll, RCMP set up a small operation last Tuesday, March 11, to nab the suspects.

"There was one plainclothes officer doing patrols in that area, and as he was doing patrols, he was approached by two males and offered marijuana," said Whistler RCMP Cpl. Diane Blain.

A Mount Currie man, 24, and a Whistler man, also 24, were arrested on trafficking charges after "a good amount" of marijuana was seized from the suspects, said Blain, who could not confirm the amount of marijuana that was found, but said it was enough to warrant charges of trafficking. Under Canadian law, individuals in possession of over 30 grams of marijuana can be charged with trafficking.

Driver suffers minor injuries after car tumbles over cliff off Highway 99

An officer attending the scene of a reported accident off Highway 99 near Wayside Park on Sunday, March 16 discovered a car that had fallen down a cliff into an embankment below.

The RCMP member soon found the driver was still inside the vehicle, and the man was provided with medical attention. The 42-year-old Pemberton resident suffered only minor injuries, police said. The man was administered a blood test once he arrived at hospital, and the RCMP is awaiting the results to determine if he was impaired.

St. Patrick's Day uneventful for Whistler RCMP

Police reported a relatively tame St. Patrick's Day in the resort this year, with only a handful of minor incidents to relay.

RCMP did note that there was a large house party with over 400 people on North Fitzsimmons Road that mobilized officers and drew several noise complaints from neighbours.

"Our members did the best they could, and all went well to deal with this given the few resources that were on to contain that kind of event," Blain said.

Three individuals in the village were arrested the same day, March 17, in separate incidents of public intoxication, Blain said. One of these individuals was arrested after pulling the fire alarm at a village nightclub.

"He was so intoxicated, he was almost delusional," added Blain.