A guitar that was stolen from the Canadian rock band 54-40 three years ago has been recovered by Chilliwack RCMP.

In October 2018, seven of the band鈥檚 guitars were taken from a cube van that was parked outside of Queen鈥檚 Park Care Centre in New Westminster. Five were recovered by the New Westminster Police Department, but two slipped away.

Earlier this month, police caught a break in the case.

On Jan. 15, Chilliwack RCMP received a report about a break-and-enter in the 47000 block of Mountain Park Drive, with electronics, vehicle key fobs and other items taken. A joint investigation by the Chilliwack RCMP Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) and Surrey RCMP Gang Enforcement Team linked a person, vehicle and address to the break-in.

On Jan. 17 the Mountain Drive home was targeted again, and a vehicle was stolen. RCMP recovered the vehicle the same day in the 9400-block of Victor Street and on Jan. 19 they converged on the 13700-block of 107A Avenue in Surrey with a search warrant.

The guitar, a Gibson Dove, was part of a much larger cache of stolen property. Officers recovered the items reported stolen in the Jan. 15 break-and-enter. RCMP also seized insurance and personal documents, credit cards, firearms with ammunition, and electric scooters that were reported stolen to Chilliwack RCMP from March 2020 to January 2021.

鈥淚n total police recovered an estimated value of over $70,000 of property during the search,鈥� said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Rail. 鈥淲e understand the importance of every item to the owners, however, a guitar seized during the execution of the search warrant provided an unexpected surprise.鈥�

Two people were arrested and later released.

RCMP will forward a report to the B.C. Prosecution Service for their assessment of criminal charges.

eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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