Vigilant Antler's Beach neighbours help collar B&E suspect

A group of residents who live close to the lake south of Antler's Beach near Peachland say they managed to foil a thief who had been breaking into homes over the past week.

Dave Lowry tells Castanet: "We got the guy! The people of Peachland, Facebook, and a local group from Brent Road sort of worked together, and we had success."

Lowry says he spotted a suspect on his surveillance camera who appeared to be trying to open his front door at 2 a.m. last Thursday. He called his neighbour, Dan, to check if he saw the same thing on his surveillance camera, and he saw the same person at his front door.

When the pair contacted RCMP, they were told the images were good, but there wasn't enough evidence to arrest the suspect.

The next night, Dan told Lowry he heard something about 2 a.m. again, and when he went to inspect, he saw the same person.

"The guy was right there, trying to get into his door."

This time when he called police, he stayed on the line and within a short while officers showed up with a K-9 unit.

"They had five police cruisers surrounding the place, a police dog."

The dog tracked the suspect down, hiding on the beach under a boat. "The dog grabbed his arm, apparently may have broken it because he's in Kelowna General Hospital," says Lowry. 

Officers found numerous stolen items in the suspect's possession from other break-ins.

Lowry credits staying vigilant and working with his neighbours for the success in arresting the suspect.

Photo: Dave Lowry