Two Burnaby men are in custody facing nearly two dozen charges in connection with a series of robberies and break-ins over a three-week period that yielded everything from guns to vide games.
The men were arrested on March 13 and a replica pistol was seized. A search warrant for a Coquitlam storage locker revealed stolen property from four break-and-enters, including a large quantity of cigarettes and vaping supplies, video games and consoles, lottery tickets — plus 13 firearms.
The guns included rifles, shotguns and one replica firearm. They are believed to have been stolen from a Mission home, where they had been legally stored, on March 8.
Four of the guns were later rendered illegal after they were modified, including filing off the serial numbers and shortening the barrels.
“Coquitlam RCMP were leading the investigation and we could not have had the successful outcomes we had without the close co-operation and support” from Abbotsford Police and RCMP detachments in Burnaby, Langley, Mission, Ridge Meadows and Surrey, Coquitlam RCMP Insp. Bryon Massie said at a press conference yesterday.
“It was a very complicated investigation and there will likely be more charges resulting out of this,” Massie added. “Investigators are still looking through the evidence seized and tracking it back to the rightful owners.”
Many of the seized items came from 10 armed robberies between Feb. 20 and March 13 at convenience stores and other businesses throughout the Lower Mainland, including one in Port Coquitlam where one person suffered minor injuries.
Investigators are still tracking down where the items came from but believe the games and gaming consoles, many of them Nintendo 64 units, were from a March 12 robbery in PoCo. Most of the vaping supplies came from two incidents, one on March 5 in Langley and another one on March 12 in PoCo.
Nicholas Lenard Traviss, 20, and 26-year-old Dillon Juel Stanton are each charged with 10 counts of robbery with a firearm. Stanton is also charged with one count of possessing a firearm without a licence and one count of possessing the identity documents of another person.
Police are encouraging people to photograph their valuables and record the serial numbers so that stolen property can be returned to its owners.
Traviss and Stanton remain in custody and are appearing were due to appear in B.C. Provincial Court in Port Coquitlam today (Wednesday).
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