Christmas came early to Laura Smith and her elderly, arthritic dog when an alert RCMP officer spotted what turned out to be her stolen doggy buggy.
Smith, a Port Coquitlam resident, and her dog, Hunter, a Rhodesian ridgeback-basset hound cross, had been missing the buggy for nearly a week when RCMP Const. John Graham spotted what looked to be the stolen cart in the area of Davies Avenue and Westwood Street.
It was being towed by one of two suspicious males on bikes.
The only problem was, the buggy was yellow, while the cart that was stolen from an underground parking lot in the 2400-Block of Welcher Avenue last week was red.
Still, on Monday while out on routine patrol, Const. Graham turned the police car around to get a closer look. His timing couldn't have been better.
The male towing the cart suddenly took off, riding his bike so fast that the front wheel fell off. He then abandoned the bike, taking off on foot with the police officer in hot pursuit.
Eventually, though, the man got away, and Const. Graham retrieved the buggy and peeked inside. It turned out the original red canvas had been spray-painted yellow.
He returned it to Smith, who will once again be able to take her dog out for a ride.
"She's extremely happy with the recovery of her buggyeven though it's missing a wheel. She said she just has to use it in a different manner to take Hunter, her dog, out for walks," Const. Graham stated in a press release.
The Coquitlam RCMP would like to thank the media and the public for their assistance in locating Laura's doggy buggy.
- with files from Gary McKenna
