Nanaimo student chases down would-be laptop thief to save term paper

On Tuesday afternoon around 3:30 p.m., Nanaimo RCMP were called to Marisa Street after a woman reported that someone had broken into her home and was fleeing the scene.

While still on the phone, the woman said that she had some “added incentive” to catch the suspect, because the thief had stolen not only electronics but a backpack that contained a school paper that was worth 50% of her final class mark.

When police arrived, they found that the caller and her boyfriend had detained the would-be thief, and were holding the female suspect on the ground on a nearby street.

After the incident, officers found all of the stolen items and the woman’s class paper. The female suspect was then transported to the Nanaimo RCMP detachment where she was held in custody overnight, and made an appearance in Nanaimo Provincial court the next day.

Police say that while struggling with the suspect, the 34-year-old female caller and her 38-year-old male partner suffered minor injuries. Both of them received minor bumps, bruises, and lacerations.

At one point during the struggle, the would-be thief also spat at the woman and picked up a rock and struck her across the head.

“Good on these two for doing what they did,” said Constable Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP.

“We would however be remiss to not point out they could have been seriously harmed during the struggle. We never advocate anyone getting into a physical altercation with a suspect. Officers were responding and if they had simply followed the suspect at a safe distance and provided updates, the outcome would have been the same.

“We are glad though she got her final paper back in one piece.”