Two Langford lads were reunited with their stolen bikes by West Shore RCMP Thursday (Jan. 26).
Twelve-year-old Jackson Neuhaus and 13-year-old Josiah Quatell reported their bikes had been stolen on Jan. 7 from outside of Westshore Town Centre in Langford. The pair had popped into the mall to go to the washroom, returning a couple of minutes later to find their bikes were gone.
The boys went to mall security and called the police on their own to report the crime. Mall security staff provided video surveillance that showed a male and female suspect making off with the bikes.
“I was pretty mad because it was on my birthday. I just turned 13 that day so I came into the mall pretty mad. But then I was happy when I saw they had video footage,” said Quatell.
The pair spend most of their free time at Jordie Lunn Bike Park riding their “dirt jumpers.”
Police later found the suspects who were both arrested for theft under $5,000. The pair are both 29 years old, live in East Sooke and were known to police, having been involved in property crimes before. Officers went to the male suspect’s home, finding one of the stolen bikes on the property and the other nearby.
“I’m just so proud of our boys for going straight to mall security to report their bikes stolen and then calling the police and making the report on their own. It was a very upsetting situation for them both and they handled it very maturely. Mall security and West Shore RCMP were both amazing and worked hard to locate and get our boys’ bikes back,” Jackson’s mother Candace Neuhaus said in a statement.
The suspects were arrested and released on the condition they don’t return to Westshore Town Centre and must attend court in March.
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