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Property thefts continue to plague Whistler

While it was a busy weekend for Whistler with Canada Day and Independence Day, for the most part residents and visitors were well-behaved.

While it was a busy weekend for Whistler with Canada Day and Independence Day, for the most part residents and visitors were well-behaved. Still, the RCMP had their hands full responding to property thefts, many of which may be the work of a single thief.

Between the evening of June 28 and morning of June 29 there were two thefts reported in the Creekside area. In one case a thief pried open the front door of the train station at Nita Lake and stole a flat screen television. On nearby Squaw Valley Crescent a thief entered through an unlocked door of a house and stole cash in the form of Euros and cigarettes.

On the evening of June 29 there was a theft from a vehicle on Archibald Way, and between July 2 and 3 there were three cars broken into in the day skier lots. Access was gained in all cases by breaking the driver side window.

Between 6 p.m. on July 1 and 9 a.m. on July 2 a thief broke into a residence on Eagle Ridge Crescent through an unlocked door and stole various items worth $1,500.

In the early hours on July 4 there was a break and enter to a room in the Pan Pacific Mountainside Lodge while the guests were sleeping. The thief entered through an unlocked balcony door and stole a purse.

On the same evening a thief entered a room in the Tantalus Lodge through an open window, also taking a purse.

The RCMP are still investigating the thefts, and the possibility that the same person may be involved in some or all of the cases. If you have any information contact the Whistler RCMP at 604-932-3044.

The RCMP also remind people not to leave valuables in their vehicles, and to lock their doors and windows overnight.

Impaired driver numbers spike in June

Armed with new training and more certified breath analyzers the Whistler RCMP arrested and charged 14 impaired drivers in the month of June, more than any month in the two years that Cpl. Graham Morgan has been in Whistler. Of the 14 arrests, 13 had blood-alcohol concentration over the legal threshold of 0.08 per cent. One other suspect refused to take the breathalyzer, which automatically triggers impaired driving charges.

What's more, two of the drivers were seriously inebriated with blood alcohol contents of 0.240, or three times the legal limit.

According to Cpl. Morgan, the Whistler RCMP met with Crown counsel recently to go over the procedures for bringing in drivers suspected of drinking and driving after roadside tests, while also training two additional officers to provide breathalyzer tests.

"We're encouraging our members to bring (drivers) back to the station for impaired driving investigations rather than issuing them with 24 hour suspensions," he said, adding that Whistler has not had a road fatality in a motor vehicle accident in two years. "Two years is a good record and we want to keep it rolling."