[MSN] Canada. Vancouver police believe they have caught a cat burglar with a taste for aboriginal, Asian and African art

[MSN]

Burglar had a taste for expensive art
Glenn Bohn Vancouver Sun
Thursday, March 20, 2008

Vancouver police believe they have caught a cat burglar with a taste for aboriginal, Asian and African art who took tens of thousands of dollars worth of art, jewelry and other valuables from apartments.

Det.-Const. Greg Booker said today residents of the Fairview neighbourhood have been victimized by a burglar over the past five months.

Police believe the man climbed up the outside of apartment buildings, usually to the second or third floor, where he gained entry to apartments through unlocked doors and windows.

His targets of choice were collectibles such as West Coast carvings, engraved silver jewelry and family heirlooms, but he sometimes made exceptions for small flat-screen televisions and other electronics.

According to Booker, the man charged is a chronic offender with a criminal record that dates back to 1998. A drug addict, he has been convicted more than 20 times of property-related crimes. The sentences haven't always been light; the longest time he spent behind bars was four years, which is a long jail term in Canada for burglary.

How was he caught this time?

"This case is one of good old detective or flat-foot work," Booker boasted.

But the suspect gave police a very big clue: a piece of his own personal identification was found in one of the burgled apartments.

That ID gave investigators a name to look for, on a list of pawn-shop customers that shops are required to give to police. Police discovered the suspect had pawned jewelry in January and February.

Photos of the jewelry were then shown to residents who had reported burglaries in the Fairview neighbourhood. Four people identified their property.

Booker noted that two victims - a newly married couple and a retired health care worker - had no property loss insurance. About 300 photographs of valuables seized by police at the suspect's apartment and the pawn shops are now posted on the Vancouver Police department website, in the art link of its "recovered stolen property" page.

Burglary victims can also visit the two main Vancouver police stations at Main and Hastings or at 2120 Cambie during regular office hours to look at booklets of photographs, to see if they recognize valuables that are missing.

Christopher Timothy MacKenzie, 36, of Vancouver, faces six charges of breaking and entering.