It was a brush with the law.
A man dashed out from an emergency exit of the Real Canadian Superstore in North Vancouver on Friday with two duffle bags and a red wagon full of stolen toothpaste.
But his clean getaway was gummed up, thanks to North Vancouver RCMP.
Officers were conducting a traffic stop right beside the store exit that afternoon, said Const. Mansoor Sahak, when they heard the store alarm go off.
The police officers then jumped into action, arrested the man and returned $2,100 worth of toothpaste to the store, Sahak said.
“It was one of those moments where we were just in the right place at the right time,” he said, adding that it’s likely the suspect would have gotten away if police weren’t already nearby.
Why steal toothpaste? The most likely scenario is selling the tubes in the Downtown Eastside for a fraction of the cost, Sahak said.
Charges of theft under $5,000 are being considered, but haven’t yet been laid.
Some people expressed their disbelief of the incident on social media. “I need to see what $2100 worth of toothpaste looks like please,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“Ask and you shall receive,” North Vancouver RCMP replied.
Sahak said he had no issues posting the photo online. “Some of the stuff that we see, you just can’t make up.”
Ask and you shall receive. pic.twitter.com/DPQsMdXVvs
— North Vancouver RCMP (@nvanrcmp) May 29, 2023
