A Saanich Police K9 unit tracked down the suspect in an early morning break-in.
Saanich Police responded to an alarm at Francelli’s coffee shop in the Royal Oak shopping centre shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Numerous officers attended the scene and found the glass front door had been smashed out with several items inside the shop seeming to have been disturbed.
Saanich Police K9 officer Const. Jon Zielinski and his partner K9 Zeke were quickly on the suspect’s trail.
“What they do is the dog establishes a track from the scene and will pick up on whatever it is that dogs pick up on, which is usually human scent, and then follows that until [the suspect] is captured,” said acting Sgt. Jereme Leslie with Saanich Police
Zeke located the suspect a few blocks away, near the 800 Block of Mann Ave., hiding in a back yard. The suspect was arrested without incident and a number of undisclosed items from the store were found in his possession.
“He was apparently very quick to give up. Once he realized there’s a big German shepherd after me, [he decided] that’s probably not a good thing,” said Leslie.
A 42-year-old Langford man, who is known to police, was later released on a promise to appear with a court date set for February. Charges recommended include, break and enter and commit an indictable offence, possession of break in instruments and possession of stolen property.
Leslie said break-ins can prove costly for business owners.
“Saanich Police put a high priority on solving these crimes,” he said. “This is a good example of the excellent work done by the women and men (and K9s) of the Saanich Police Department.”