West Shore RCMP nabbed two people a the peak of the Malahat Thursday morning after they stole a bait truck deployed in Langford only six hours earlier.

A 24-year-old man with a lengthy criminal record and a 18-year-old female with no record were arrested without incident after they took off in the bait pickup truck loaded with an ATV.

Both from the Greater Victoria area, they face charges of theft and possession of stolen goods over $5,000, and theft and possession of stolen goods under $5,000. As of Friday, charges haven’t been sworn and police haven’t released their names.

The bait truck, outfitted with video surveillance, GPS tracking and engine kill controls, was deployed in the area near the West Shore Parkway and the Trans-Canada Highway late Wednesday night.

Sgt. Keith Lewis, who runs the integrated municipal provincial auto crime team (IMPACT) for Vancouver Island, said the man broke into the truck, left, returned with his female accomplice and then sped north up the Malahat. The stolen truck radioed the bait car dispatch office, who notified the West Shore RCMP.

The truck with its enticing ATV was deployed near West Shore Parkway due to recent crime trends in Langford, Lewis said. That it was stolen in six hours is testament to keen intelligence work by West Shore RCMP, he said.

“We don’t do random bait car deployments. (West Shore RCMP) obviously knew very well based on crime trends where to put that truck,” he said. “That it was stolen that quickly shows they really know what they are doing.”

Lewis said about six to nine cars per week are stolen on the West Shore, with theft from vehicles about three times higher. The numbers aren’t huge, he said, but IMPACT deploys a number of bait cars in Langford and Colwood 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

In smaller communities, a small number of car thieves can cause a significant spike in crime statistics, which has happened on the West Shore in past years.

“Auto theft can spike when one or two guys are released from jail and suddenly they’re back at it,” Lewis said. “Usually they get very light sentences. They get out and they’re out and right back at it.”

"But we get them all," he continued. "We are patient and we target them again and again. Eventually we get them all."

editor@goldstreamgazette.com