Sunshine Coast RCMP alerted the Conservation Officer Service after a bear became the prime suspect in the theft of a wallet in Gibsons.
Police say that on Aug. 27, a resident in the 600 block of Dougall Road reported a thief had smashed a window on his vehicle, broke a side view mirror, gained entry to the vehicle and stolen a wallet.
“Police spoke with the resident, who had recovered his wallet nearby, and were advised that the resident’s neighbour believed the culprit was the same bear the neighbour had chased out of his own vehicle the previous evening,” RCMP said in a release.
In a separate incident in Gibsons that occurred overnight on Aug. 26, the door handles were torn off a car parked in the 1200 block of Carol Place, but there was no indication of entry.
“Police attended and while assessing the damage, noted a possible paw print, dirt smudges and a tiny bit of fur,” RCMP reported. “The vehicle owners advised that there was food left overnight in the vehicle, and a neighbour advised that their garbage can had been rummaged through by a bear early in the morning. Everyone was reminded about Bear Aware safety tips and the Conservation Officer Service has been advised.”
Gibsons saw a rash of bear incidents in the latter half of August, with the highest profile case being near Franklin Beach on Aug. 19.
In that case, police ultimately destroyed an aggressive male black bear that followed a two-year-old boy into a house and later chased a man from Burns Road to the Harmony Hall Seniors Centre parking lot.
