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Man awakes to intruder in home

Police Briefs: ATM skimmer seized; Aussie man pepper sprayed
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A man awoke to the sounds of an intruder in his Millar’s Pond home last week, thinking it was simply the classic Whistler case of someone drunkenly wandering into the wrong house.

Turns out the unwelcome guest had more nefarious intentions, however, when the man discovered several items missing the following morning, police said. At around 2 a.m. on Dec. 27, the complainant said he saw a man standing on his bedroom stairs and heard him say, “we need to go,” in a possible Australian accent. After telling the man he had the wrong house, the suspect fled and the resident went back to sleep.

“He assumed it was an intoxicated person stumbling into the wrong house,” said R. Cstb. Steve LeClair.

In the light of day, the complainant noticed a camera, a bag of tools and a bike lamp were missing. An attending officer on the scene also discovered the man’s car, which was left unlocked, had been rummaged through.

The RCMP’s forensic unit obtained fingerprints at the scene, LeClair said, and the investigation is ongoing.

ATM skimmer seized from village hotel

Local police confiscated an apparent ATM skimmer from a village hotel last week, police said.

Just before 6 p.m. on Dec. 29, the hotel’s GM notified police that staff members had discovered that a device used to steal debit and credit card information had been installed on an ATM in the building. The hotel had installed an anti-skimmer device on the machine that was ultimately defeated, LeClair said.

Officers seized the device and are now analyzing it to gather any possible information, police said. LeClair was unaware how long the device had been in place, or if anyone had their information stolen.

Aussie tourist gets pepper sprayed after resisting drug arrest

An Australian man is facing charges after he was reportedly caught with cocaine and resisted arrest, police said.

An officer on foot patrol in the village on the night of Dec. 29 noticed the 23-year-old preparing a line of cocaine on his cell phone, LeClair said. When the Mountie advised the man he was under arrest, he “immediately grabbed the phone and began to wipe off the cocaine,” according to Whistler RCMP. A struggle ensued that reportedly brought both the suspect and the officer to the ground, at which point the Aussie tourist removed a clear plastic baggie from his pocket containing the drugs and began tearing it up.

“He was actively resisting when an officer deployed pepper spray,” LeClair said. Once subdued, the man was taken into custody.

He now faces charges of cocaine possession, resisting arrest and obstruction. He was released with a future court date and forced to surrender his passport, police said.

$2,400 reportedly stolen from Pinecrest cabin

An intruder allegedly broke into a Whistler cabin this week and stole $2,400, police said.

On the afternoon of Jan. 2, a man called police to say the cabin he was staying at for the weekend in the Pinecrest subdivision was broken into. At around midnight, the complainant’s two daughters claim they noticed a total of $2,400 missing from their wallets. Nothing else was reported missing.

The family told police they were unsure if they had left the cabin door unlocked. The investigation continues.