RCMP Nab Long Time Thief

A 38 year old male well known to police officers on Vancouver Island is behind bars on charges of Possession of Stolen credit cards.

Officers were called to the Days Inn on Nicol St early in the morning on the 21th for a report of a theft from a vehicle. A couple vacationing from Ohio, told police their wallet had been left in the car over night and when they went to their vehicle in the morning, they noticed the door had been jimmied and their wallet was gone. All of their credit cards including some American currency was also taken.

Members investigating quickly began checking nearby businesses for video footage of individuals using credit cards and as luck would have it , a male was seen using one of the stolen credit cards. Officers were able to identify the suspect male shown on the video from previous dealings and later the next day he was located outside a residence on Haliburton St and arrested without incident. The stolen credit cards were not located but all had been cancelled and were no longer a liability to the visitors from Ohio.

Wayne Alen KOLODYCHUK was held in custody on theft and Possession of a stolen credit card charges . KOLODYCHUK appeared before a Nanaimo Provincial court judge late yesterday afternoon and plead guilty to charges of theft and Possession of stolen credit cards. He was sentenced to four months jail.KOLODYCHUK is well known to police jurisdictions in Nanaimo ,Port Alberni and Victoria and has a lengthy criminal record for property related offences.

Further to this but unrelated to this incident, there have been a rash of theft from vehicles in Nanaimo over the past four days. There have been 14 reported incidents since Friday June 19th and the vehicles being targeted are Ford F350's and Volkswagon products. Most have occurred between midnight and five o’clock , the vehicles have been parked in private driveways and an overwhelming majority have occurred in the north end of Nanaimo. It should be noted that KOLODYCHUK has not been linked to any of these other incidents.

“The favorite items of choice are still wallets and GPS units that continue to be left in vehicles. We can’t stress enough that vehicles need to be locked and valuables should never be left in the vehicle. Also, it would be prudent of car and property owners to be vigilant and keep an eye out on their car and neighborhood until such time we catch the persons responsible for these thefts. They are using a vehicle and they only need a few minutes to get into your car. If you see anything suspicious, call the police right away and once again, do not leave valuables in your car” said Constable Gary O’Brien, media spokesperson for the Nanaimo RCMP.

If you have any information on these theft, please call the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go online at www.nanaimocrimestoppers.com.