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New West Police help find stolen boat and suspect

A would-be boat thief may have gotten away if it hadn’t been for New Westminster Police – and a sandbar. Around noon on Sunday, Sept.
New Westminster police boat
New Westminster Police officers recently took to the water to assist the Delta Police Department in apprehending a stolen boat.

A would-be boat thief may have gotten away if it hadn’t been for New Westminster Police – and a sandbar.

Around noon on Sunday, Sept. 27, New West Police received a request for assistance from the Delta Police Department regarding an alleged theft of a boat.

“The suspect allegedly collided with other boats as he evaded arrest,” said a press release from the New Westminster Police Department. “The boat was described as a 2001 Formula pleasure craft valued at approximately $70,000.”

New Westminster Constables Nick Ferguson and Dylan MacDonald boarded the NWPD’s police boat, Shaw-1, and headed to Delta. They spotted a boat matching the description of the stolen vessel stuck on a sandbank near the Alex Fraser Bridge.

“I pulled Shaw-1 up close to the boat,” Ferguson said in a press release. “While he was stuck on the sandbar, you could see he was trying to dislodge the boat and get free.”

The New Westminster officers, who instructed the driver of the boat to stop and turn off the engine, were able to safely take the driver into custody.

After taking the suspect Delta Police Department constables who were waiting on shore, Shaw-1 ferried the boat’s owner to his waiting vessel.

“Thank you to New West Police for the timely arrival of their officers via boat,” Cris Leykauf, spokesperson for Delta Police, said in the press release. “Police across Metro Vancouver work closely together on a variety of files, and this is just one example of the cooperation that happens every day.”

Anyone who witnessed this incident or has further information is asked to contact the Delta Police Department at 604-946-4411 (file 20-22632.)