The two police forces on the Peninsula teamed up this past week to arrest a man who had been scamming local liquor stores.
Over the last two weeks Sidney North Saanich RCMP and the Central Saanich Police Service had reports of a man trying to scam liquor store employees by picking items up off the shelf and claiming he had purchased them when he hadn’t.
The fraudster would then ask cashiers for cash refunds for the alcoholic beverages and in some cases he claimed the return was authorized by a manager.
On the morning of Saturday, Nov. 17 Central Saanich police officers were alerted by a liquor store employee that the man had returned.
Police quickly responded and found the man inside the store. The officers were able to identify the man as suspect from previous reports and security videos and arrested him.
The man wasn’t able to provide identification and gave the officers a fake name.
The suspect was transported back to the Central Saanich police station where he gave his real name and it was discovered he had seven unendorsed warrants in B.C. as well as being unlawfully at large from London, Ontario.
The 45-year-old man of no fixed address is currently in custody and is facing several charges including fraud, obstruction of justice and impersonation.
“This is a great example of multi-jurisdictional work where both forces on the Peninsula worked together with the liquor store employees to make this arrest,” said Cpl. Pat Bryant of the Central Saanich police.