A man who allegedly squatted in a Nanaimo home while residents were away on holiday was arrested earlier this week after he refused to leave, say police.
The arrest was made Monday (Sept. 7).
The 40-year-old, who was known to police, did not come out of the house when asked and so a police dog was sent in, said Const. Gary O鈥橞rien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman.
O鈥橞rien said a family that lives in the 300 block of Nicol Street went to the Yukon for three weeks and 鈥渋t appears that either a squatter or squatters basically took over their house and did a lot of damage 鈥� We were advised the house was empty at the time and nobody should be in the house.鈥�
The family returned from holiday on Sunday, the day before the arrest, to find that their house had been broken into and that property had been damaged and allegedly stolen.
鈥淭he beds had been broken and stained, the kids鈥� clothes and toys had been strewn all over, and there was drug paraphernalia everywhere, including in the kids鈥� new back-to-school backpacks. Almost all of their things have been stained, broken, or stolen,鈥� noted a press release from GoFundMe.
The next night at about 8 p.m., Nanaimo RCMP were called to a report of a break-and-enter in progress and found a suspect back inside the home.
鈥淚t was known [the suspect] has a propensity for violence and is sometimes carrying weapons鈥︹�� O鈥橞rien said. 鈥淭he male was taken out [of the home], taken to hospital for a few stitches and he鈥檚 in cells as we speak.鈥�
The suspect appeared in provincial court in Nanaimo this week to face a charge of break-and-enter.
O鈥橞rien said these sort of incidents aren鈥檛 common because he said a lot of citizens in Nanaimo are 鈥渟witched on鈥� to crime prevention.
鈥淜ey is communication between neighbours to say, 鈥榟ey, I鈥檓 going to be out of town for a while, can you keep an eye on things?鈥� Not saying this did not happen, but obviously there was a breakdown somewhere,鈥� O鈥橞rien said.
A GoFundMe has raised $8,700 for the family, which didn鈥檛 have tenants鈥� insurance. To view or donate to the GoFundMe, .
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