A man has been arrested in the vandalism of a Maple Ridge business in September.
Police arrested a 47-year-old suspect at 10:55 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, after he was located by the Ridge Meadows RCMP’s Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) and the Street Enforcement Unit (SEU).
He was transported to the detachment cells at the Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment, but has since been released from custody with a future court date and no-go conditions to the business, explained Const. Tisha Parsons with the Ridge Meadows RCMP.
Parsons noted the incident happened on Sept. 7, at around 4:32 a.m., when police responded to a report that someone smashed the front window of a local business in the 11900 block of 224 Street.
On that morning, Taryn Stephenson Thoews, who co-owns T's Once Upon A Tea Leaf on 224 Street with her mother, Cindy-Lea Stephenson, said she was alerted to a person with a hammer outside the store at 4 a.m..
The person tried to smash the front door and the storefront window with an object, but was unsuccessful because of a special film they installed on the glass, said Thoews at the time.
Thoews posted a video online which showed a person, who looked to be dressed all in black with a mask over the lower portion of their face, approach the front door of the business around a corner first, before returning from out of sight to attempt to break the front window with the object.
The person can be seen repeatedly hammering at the front window with the object before pushing, then kicking at the window as well, which shattered, but didn't break.
Shortly after, Ridge Meadows RCMP said they were looking for two suspects. They were spotted riding bicycles from ValleyFair Mall, north along 227 Street, west along Selkirk Avenue, and then cutting through the Walmart parking lot just before the incident took place.
This wasn't the first incident of vandalism at the store. In June and September of 2023, the store was also targeted.
Nobody has been arrested yet in these other two instances.
Thoews said she is grateful to the RCMP for "finally taking my calls seriously".
"I had to shout pretty loud from the rooftop for everyone to hear that it wasn't just another vandalized store in another downtown core. And that it was, you know, two female business owners who were being clearly targeted, for what reason I don't think I'll ever know," said Thoews.
However, she said, in her mind, only a third of the case has been solved.
In the September, 2023 incident, the person managed to break through the glass and throw some sort of smoke bomb into the store which left an orange hue on the entire space and its contents.
It caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, said Thoews, and nearly shut down their business.
"We're still not through that with our insurance claim," she noted.
"While I am very grateful that on the third attempt that the resources were allocated, it is my hope that they continue to figure out who did the other acts of vandalism. But, also, figure out why," said Thoews of the police.
Thoews also took to social media with her thoughts.
"Here are the facts. Someone was arrested, questioned and released for the incident that occurred 9 weeks ago. NOT the incident that destroyed everything we have worked for and nearly shut us down. There is a court date where this person will face charges of vandalism over $5,000. I have not been told this person’s name ( probably a good thing). We do not know why he did this and we do not know who hired this person," she wrote.
"Again, while I have gratitude for what the RCMP have done in this most recent event, this case is far from closed and solved in my opinion," added Thoews online.
Parsons said the Crime Reduction Unit canvassed Maple Ridge’s downtown core extensively, and were able to obtain video surveillance from local businesses and surrounding areas, which helped them in identifying a suspect after "additional investigative steps were completed."
"This is still an active and ongoing investigation and no further information is available at this time," said Parsons.
Anyone with further information are being asked to contact the Ridge Meadows RCMP directly at 604-463-6251 and refer to File 2024-18152.
