Suspects arrested after taking the ‘bait’

The BAIT vehicle program continues to snare suspects.

Kelowna RCMP arrested a male driver and female passenger after they allegedly stole a bait vehicle on Dec. 2 that was deployed the evening before.

Officers were notified the vehicle was in motion and attended the area of Dilworth Drive where they arrested the two occupants for theft of a motor vehicle.

After a search, a Taser was located in a fanny pack on the floor of the vehicle. The suspects also caused extensive damage to the doors and ignition.

The male driver is being held in custody to appear in court while the female passenger was released with an appearance notice to attend court at a later date.

“This is a great success story regarding a coordinated effort to counter property crime in Kelowna between the proactive enforcement unit deploying the bait vehicles in hot spots and general duty officers arresting a known property crime offender within hours of deployment,” Cpl. Guillaume Tanguay of the Kelowna RCMP Proactive Enforcement Team, said.

A bait car is a vehicle owned by the police and designed to be stolen. Once the bait has been taken, the location, speed and direction of travel of the vehicle are monitored by police dispatchers through GPS.

Everything that takes place inside the bait car is recorded on audio and video as the dispatcher coordinates the police response. Once officers are in position, the engine is remotely disabled allowing police to move in quickly to arrest the thief.