Repeat offenders caught red-handed in Mission

MISSION — It’s a tough job being a constable in British Columbia when repeat offenders get arrested and released and then return to cause even more problems for the broader community.

Mission RCMP advised the community during their weekly recap on social media about two separate incidents where repeat offenders, or individuals known to police, caused problems for retail establishments in Mission in late October.

According to a social media post from the department, Mission RCMP say two men wearing bandanas over their faces walked into a retail store in Mission on the morning of Monday, October 23, and stole over $2,000 worth of perfume and cologne. Officers were able to identify the suspects as they are well-known to police, and immediately attended their residence in Mission. One of the suspects was arrested, and police recovered all of the stolen product and returned it to the store.

A similar scenario unfolded the following day on Tuesday morning, October 24, when a man entered another retail store in Mission, and was immediately told to leave as he was a prolific shoplifter and had already been banned from the store. The man threatened a staff member, then left. Police arrived and began interviewing the staff member about the threats, when the offender was seen walking nearby. While the officer was approaching the offender, Constable Harrison Mohr pointed out, the man attempted to quietly toss a knife under a parked car, as he was on court-ordered conditions not to possess any knives. Unfortunately for the man, dropping a metal knife onto concrete was not at all discreet (a plan that went down in total defeat), which resulted in the man getting arrested in a heart beat, leading to a trip to jail in the back seat. He was held for a court-hearing, and that investigation is now complete.