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Thief pulls off brazen vehicle heist at Parksville dealership

Man makes off with Lincoln as staff members look on
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On Jan. 9 around 5 p.m. Angelea Cave, lot manager at Mid Island Truck Auto and RV, watched a man jump in a Lincoln MKS from the Island Highway East business and drive away towards Nanaimo. - Karly Blats photo

A high-end Lincoln vehicle was stolen from Parksville’s Mid Island Truck Auto and RV yesterday (Jan. 9), right in front of staff members.

Lot manager Angelea Cave was getting ready to put dealer plates on the black, four-door Lincoln MKS and head home when the theft occurred.

“We were closing up shop and we just moved the vehicles to block our entrance way and I was just having a chat with the guy I was leaving with, and when we were chatting I noticed this guy comes running onto our lot from one of the corners,” Cave said. “I didn’t think anything of it. I thought he was just walking through our lot because there’s an exit at the back to get to the street behind us so I thought maybe he’s just running to meet somebody back there.”

Cave said she then heard the door to the vehicle open and saw the man jump in and lock all the doors.

“My instinct was to get in front of the vehicle so he wouldn’t drive off but that didn’t really stop him,” Cave said. “He lurched at me a couple of times and when he locked eyes with me I kind of realized what was happening and then he slammed it in reverse and almost hit two of our vehicles and then just sped off.”

Cave said she’s never experienced anything like this before while in the vehicle business.

Oceanside RCMP said they received a report of theft on Jan. 9 just before 5 p.m. at a residence on Pioneer Crescent, after a property owner returned home to find a man attempting to steal from them.

“The homeowner locked the suspect inside of an outbuilding pending arrival of police,” said Sgt. Stephen Rose. “However the suspect was able to force his way out and flee on foot.”

Rose said moments later police received a report of a vehicle having been stolen from a business in the 600 block of Island Highway East.

“The suspect entered a vehicle while it was idling at that location and fled in the vehicle,” Rose said. “The vehicle had no licence plates on it and was described as a black, four-door 2016 Lincoln MKS.”

The vehicle was last seen heading toward Nanaimo on the Island Highway.

Rose said at this time police believe the suspect is the same in both incidents.

“The suspect is described as approximately five-foot eight-inches tall with short, blonde hair and a pock-marked face,” Rose said.

Rose added it may be challenging to track down the vehicle as it didn’t have licence plates.

“There are more than one black Lincoln four-door cars on the road so that’s the challenge. All we have for now is the general vehicle description,” he said.

Both files remain under investigation.

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