Police nab suspect in donation-box thefts
By Kyra Hoggan
A 27-year-old Castlegar man is facing three counts of theft under $5,000 following a police investigation into the theft of donation boxes from three Castlegar businesses in January 2012.
On Jan. 4, the SPCA donation box was stolen from the Shell gas station. On Jan. 7, the donation box for Crohn’s and Colitis was stolen from M&M meats. On Jan. 10, the donation box for the SPCA was stolen from the Kootenay Market. Castlegar RCMP Sgt. Laurel Mathew said it’s impossible to estimate exactly how much money the three boxes contained. “There’s no way of knowing,” she said. “It’s probably less than $100, but you never know, maybe someone put a $100 bill in one of them. There’s just no way to be sure. “But the dollar figure isn’t the point – it’s not okay to steal, and it’s even worse to steal from charities.” The good news, she said, is that it was only a matter of days before police had a suspect in custody. “On Jan. 10, an astute business owner, who had been present when the donation box was stolen from his store, notified RCMP that he had seen the male he believed to be responsible for the theft several days earlier, walking near the Kootenay Market,” she said. “The male was located and identified by police and the witness, and after further investigation and enquiries, he was arrested for theft and is to face these charges.” The suspect, who was known to police prior to Jan. 10, will appear in Castlegar court on Feb. 15.
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