Multiple charges forwarded to Crown through Project Blitz

Multiple charges have been forwarded to Crown in a RCMP initiative this past week targeting local shoplifting suspects.

Charges include four counts of theft under $5,000, one count of obstruction, and one impaired driving charge – the resulting efforts of Project Blitz, an initiative launched by the Ridge Meadows RCMP’s Uniformed Community Response Unit, (UCRU), to support local retailers throughout Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

This week the officers traded in their uniforms for civilian clothes and worked on scene at Valley Fair Mall, Haney Place Mall, BC Liquor Stores, and other retailers, in coordination with Loss Prevention Officers, (LPO).

READ MORE: Mounties nab store thieves in Maple Ridge

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Throughout the year the project, launched in mid-March, identified and apprehended prolific criminals who were caught stealing from local stores.

“Shoplifters who are not arrested on scene by an LPO typically evade criminal prosecution as they cannot always be identified with surveillance video alone,” explained Corporal Tana Goode who leads the UCRU team.

“Criminals need to know that police are targeting shoplifters throughout Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows and you never know where our undercover police officers will be. You will be caught.”

As of the morning of Friday, Oct. 8, charges had not yet been approved by Crown.