METRO VANCOUVER — Two completely different crime sprees that began in Surrey on Friday morning oddly both ended with suspects apprehended in Vancouver an hour later.
The first incident began just after 8 a.m. when a woman called Surrey RCMP to report her red 1995 Honda Civic, which had been left running in the driveway of her residence in the 16000-block of 88th Avenue, had disappeared while she was grabbing coffee inside the house.
An hour later, Coquitlam RCMP were called to the 700-block of Clearwater Way after the suspect of the Civic had approached a man in a red 2008 Kia and forced him from the car before speeding off.
Witnesses soon spotted the Kia being driven erratically on the TransCanada Highway through Burnaby. It was later dumped in the 5800-block of Dover Crescent in Richmond. The suspect then got into his third stolen car of the morning, driving a red BMW erratically in a number of areas through Richmond before crossing the Knight Street Bridge into South Vancouver.
Police were finally able to stop the vehicle by ramming it with a police cruiser at the intersection of Fraser Street and South East Marine Drive. A 32-year-old suspect was taken into custody.
Oddly enough, on the same morning at around the time the first suspect was carjacking the Kia driver in Coquitlam, the Surrey RCMP received a report of a shoplifter who had stabbed two men with a knife in the 7100-block of 138th Street.
The suspect fled on foot after the altercation and then jumped into an occupied vehicle nearby with a female driver. This time the suspect didn't force the driver out during the carjacking, speeding off with the woman still inside.
Surrey RCMP immediately coordinated with police agencies across the Lower Mainland to help locate the vehicle, which was soon found driving in Vancouver. Air 1, Integrated Police Dog Services, and Emergency Response Teams all assisted in the police chase.
The female driver was finally able to escape the car while stopped at a traffic light and was later found unharmed in the 3300-block of Cambie Street.
After repeated attempts to get the suspect to stop the car, the man fled on foot into an industrial area of South Vancouver where he was arrested by Vancouver Police.
Both suspects now face numerous criminal charges for their alleged actions.
Coquitlam and Richmond RCMP are investigating the first crime spree, while Surrey RCMP's Serious Crime Unit has taken control of the second one. Anyone who witnessed either crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.