Sunshine Coast RCMP reported the following for Aug. 5 to 12:
Suspicious circumstances
• On Aug. 5, a suspicious package was reported at a business in the 1100 block of Highway 101, Gibsons, after staff found a small Styrofoam box with no markings or notes on it left in front of the door. Police attended and noted that nothing was leaking from the box, nor was there any sound coming from it.
After consulting the Explosives Disposal Unit, police determined the box was empty and harmless. The business later called police to advise they’d spoken with a client who’d left it there thinking the business could use it.
• On Aug. 8, around 7 p.m., three male youth were witnessed ringing the doorbell and running away from a house in the 6100 block of Gale Avenue South, Sechelt. One resident was able to provide descriptions of the three boys, and advised they were also carrying sticks. Police made patrols and located three young males coming out of a nearby wooded area. The boys admitted to ringing the bell at the residence and hitting another with a pellet, causing some damage. The file is under investigation.
• During the early evening hours of Aug. 10, a resident of Carlson Point reported hearing shots being fired in the area. The resident was concerned that shooting guns in the wilderness could potentially start another forest fire. Police searched the area and located evidence confirming firearms had been discharged; however, they did not locate any suspects. Sunshine Coast RCMP would like to remind backcountry users of the high fire danger, and that even shooting a firearm in a forested area could potentially spark a wildfire.
Break and enter / theft
• On Aug. 5, an attempted break and enter was reported at an address in the 5200 block of Selma Park Road, Sechelt. The suspect appears to have tried to pry a padlock off an outbuilding but was unsuccessful. No entry was gained and nothing was stolen.
• Early on Aug. 9, a thief stole food from a McDonald’s drive-through customer in Sechelt. The suspect, described as a six-foot tall Native male wearing white pants and shirt, approached a vehicle in the drive-through line and started speaking to the driver. When the employee at the window handed over the food to the driver, the suspect intercepted, grabbed the bag of food and fled the scene on foot. The driver, who was vacationing on the Coast, was given a second order for free. The suspect was not located.
Traffic / Mischief to vehicles
On Aug. 4, a witness reported a possible impaired driver after seeing a driver waiting at the Langdale Ferry Terminal pour what appeared to be tequila for himself and his passenger. Police attended and spoke with the driver who advised they were drinking Perrier. Police confirmed that the beverage was non-alcoholic and allowed the unimpaired driver to continue on to the ferry.
• Overnight on Aug. 9, a vandal used rocks to break a window at a business in the 1100 block of Highway 101, Gibsons. The vandal only managed to break through the first pane of the double-paned window so no entry was gained and nothing was stolen.
• Between July 18 and Aug. 8, a thief gained entry to a commercial vehicle parked in the 5600 block of Xenichen Avenue, Sechelt, and stole a number of tools as well as a laptop and a portable and vehicle mounted radio. The stolen items include a portable band saw, various Makita tools and a spotlight that had been mounted on a second vehicle parked nearby.
• Overnight on Aug. 8, a vandal broke a window of a vehicle parked in the 600 block of King Road. It is unknown what the vandal used to cause two softball-sized holes in the window as nothing was found inside the vehicle. No entry to the vehicle was gained and nothing was stolen.
