Nanaimo RCMP have arrested a prolific property offender with offences committed all over Vancouver Island.
24-year-old Austin Carlson-McPherson was arrested at his Cranberry Avenue home in Nanaimo following a search warrant executed just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday September 22.
Officers seized two firearms along with stolen items including mail, personal identification, passports, and a portable debit machine.
Nanaimo RCMP say the debit machine is believed to have been stolen from Port Renfrew earlier this year.
Carlson-McPherson was wanted in connection with twenty criminal investigations throughout Sooke, Port Renfrew and Duncan.
Charges against him include possession of stolen property including bump keys – specialized keys cut to pick tumbler locks – and keys belonging to Canada Post.
The firearms which were seized were stolen during a 2019 break and enter in Nanaimo.
The other fifteen charges Carlson-McPherson faces include break and enter, flight from police, driving while prohibited and various thefts.
“It brings immense satisfaction to our officers to have this individual off the streets and to interrupt his pattern of criminality throughout Vancouver Island,” said Constable Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP.
“Additionally, investigators have been able to identify the owners of the property seized and are currently in the process of returning it.”
Carlson-McPherson has been held in custody until Friday September 25, 2020.
