Following a chase on foot in Parksville, a 25-year-old man has been arrested.
Police arrested a man in Parksville on Aug. 1 after two witnesses called the Oceanside RCMP detachment to report a “male who was acting suspiciously near the Starbucks,” said Oceanside RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jesse Foreman in a news release.
“The man was said to be acting irrationally and running in and out of traffic,” Foreman said.
Once RCMP arrived on scene, Foreman said, police found the man and tried to talk to him.
“He refused to provide his name and then suddenly fled on foot,” said Foreman. “The suspect was caught after officers gave chase on foot and made an arrest. At first, the man, now identified as 25-year-old Nickolas Richard Drew of no fixed address, lied about his name, but officers recognized him from prior dealings.”
Searches of Drew after he was arrested showed him to be in breach of several probation conditions, Foreman said. RCMP searched Drew and found evidence to support charges from other crimes including a break and enter to a home on July 29 in Parksville.
Drew is being kept in custody until his next appearance at Nanaimo Provincial Court Aug. 11.
Foreman notes in the news release that there has been a 15-per-cent increase in call volume compared to the same time last year.
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The local detachment has had an increase of more than 1,800 calls for service from this time last year.
“This summer has been crazy… In the past two weeks, eight prolific offenders have been arrested by the Oceanside RCMP; warrants, breaches, break and entries and stolen vehicles to name a few. These are very busy times,” said Staff Sgt. Marc Pelletier in the news release.
— NEWS Staff/Oceanside RCMP news release