A prolific bike thief in Nanaimo has been arrested following a police bait bike operation earlier this week.
Over the past several weeks, the Nanaimo community experienced a spike in bicycle thefts. Vancouver Island University (VIU) was a particularly hot target for thieves, with six reported thefts of bikes and bike parts on campus in the past three weeks.
In response, Nanaimo RCMP placed a bait bike on the VIU campus and in just over 3 hours a male suspect came and stole the two-wheeler.
The suspect, 23 year old Beau Randall Jansen, faces charges of theft under $5000, possession of break in tools, and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public (bear spray). He also faces two counts of breaching and existing undertaking for unrelated incidents.
After being arrested, Jansen plead guilty and was sentenced to 57 days in jail.
Nanaimo RCMP encourage people to secure their bikes with a sturdy lock and to register their bikes on the 529 Garage app, which works for both iPhone and Android products.
Earlier this week, Nanaimo RCMP were looking to identify two suspects who were caught stealing a bicycle from VIU on a surveillance camera.
 was a particularly hot target for thieves, with six reported thefts of bikes and bike parts on campus in the past three weeks.){kind=link}