Sometimes a suspect of a crime is so easily caught it is as if they were dropped right in front of officers – but rarely does it literally happen.
That’s exactly how a dine-and-dash incident played out in a Burnaby restaurant this past March, according to surveillance video released by Burnaby RCMP on Thursday (Oct. 29).
“The manager of a restaurant in the Metrotown area called to report a woman had been seen crawling into the ceiling vent through the women’s washroom in an attempt to avoid paying her bill,” Cpl. Michael Kalanj told Black Press Media.
When police officers arrived, they were directed by staff into the back kitchen, where the woman could be heard crawling above the ceiling tiles.
Almost immediately upon entering the kitchen, surveillance footage shows the woman falling through the tiles before being apprehended by one of the officers.
The woman was examined for injuries but did not require further medical attention, according to police. She was not charged. Instead, the officers consulted with restaurant management and “showed compassion and understanding while emphasizing personal responsibility and life change,” Kalanj said.
The latest incident, which Mounties shared widely on social media, is part of an initiative to show the kinds of incidents officers respond to everyday.
“Sometimes it’s drug related, sometimes it’s a break and enter. We felt this was a good example of some of the more interesting files our officers respond to.”
@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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