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Squamish man dead following bar room incident

RCMP news: Whistler resident uses social media to track down alleged thief
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A 54-year-old Squamish man is dead after a disturbance was reported outside the Cliffside Pub in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 2.

Police attended the scene to discover a male lying on the ground in medical distress after suffering an injury to the head, according to a release.

BC Ambulance attended to transport the male to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The man is identified as Clifton Mawer of Squamish.

The incident is being treated as a homicide, and the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has already spoken with several witnesses.

"What we’re trying to find out exactly is: Did the person who died receive injuries as a result of being assaulted or was it another instance? We know that there was an altercation involving (Mawer) and another person and we’re trying to determine exactly what happened, why it happened and how it happened, and whether or not the actions of anyone were criminal," said IHIT Sgt. Adam MacIntosh.

The IHIT is asking anyone with information or who was in or near the Cliffside Pub between Saturday, March 1 at 11 p.m., and 2 a.m. Sunday to call the IHIT Tipline at 1-877-551-4458 or email ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Local resident uses social media to track down alleged thief

A 34-year-old Lions Bay resident was arrested Saturday, March 1, thanks to the quick thinking of a Whistler local who used social media to track down the suspect, who allegedly nabbed his laptop to score drugs.

Just after midnight, a male suspect knocked on the door of a Whistler Cay Heights home asking for drugs. The man was informed there were no drugs on the premises, but he returned once the house's occupants had gone to sleep.

Australian native Beau Robertson, 23, was out for the night and returned home around 2:30 a.m. to discover all the lights in the house were on. Further inspection revealed two packs of cigarettes on the kitchen table.

"Instantly, I thought something shady was going on, so I walked down to my room and my door opened and someone walked out smoking a cigarette," said Robertson. "That's when I grabbed the bloke and threw him out of the house, not knowing under his jacket he had my laptop."

In the morning, Robertson noticed his computer was missing, and reported it stolen to Whistler RCMP. The complainant also took to the Whistler Winter Facebook group to post a description of the suspect in the hopes of tracking him down. Shortly after, a Whistler woman, who recognized the suspect's description, posted details on his whereabouts after he had attempted to sell the laptop to her at a bus stop.

With a timeline of the suspect's movements, Robertson drove to the village in the hopes of locating the alleged thief. In a stroke of luck, Robertson happened across the suspect near the Whistler Clearance Centre. Not recognizing Robertson, the suspect approached him looking for cocaine, as he had done to several others in the village. Robertson told the man he could find him drugs, and walked with the suspect to his place of work.

Walking out the back of the shop, Robertson called the police, setting a meeting place with an officer near a village location.

With his phone on the fritz, Robertson was nervous as he could only use the speakerphone function while talking to police, meaning the suspect could potentially hear what was being said.

Eventually, Robertson spotted a police car.

"At that point I was getting pretty nervous because we were standing in the open and he noticed the police car while I was on the phone with the officer," Robertson said. "He didn't have any suspicious at all and I was talking pretty loudly on the phone."

The officer then jumped out of the car and apprehended the suspect after when Robertson pointed him out.

"Even when (the suspect) got arrested, he didn't know what was going on," said Robertson. "When he was getting handcuffed I had to say to him, 'That's what you get for doing such a stupid thing in such a tight-knit community.'"

RCMP confirmed that the 34-year-old suspect was arrested, and police are likely to recommend charges of breaking and entering.