Three year jail term for thief who targeted North Van apartments

A Surrey man who robbed mailrooms in apartment building in City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Cody Parent was convicted in BC Surrey Supreme Court after the BC Prosecution Service approved numerous charges related to his crime spree.

He was convicted in court on seven counts including break and enter, possession of instruments to forge credit cards, and identity theft.

His crime spree started last year in North Shore in June when RCMP received a series of complaints of burglaries to mail rooms in apartment buildings in both CNV and DNV.

Through video surveillance, police identified the suspect as 26-year-old Surrey resident, Cody Parent. With assistance from Surrey RCMP, North Vancouver’s Uniform Crime Reduction Team arrested Parent in June and seized a variety of stolen and illegal items.

He was found with a ‘staggering’ number of stolen credit cards, passports, drivers’ licences and banking documents. He even bought a newer-model BMW using the credit cards and identification. The vehicle has since been seized by the police.

The Uniform Crime Reduction Team (UCRT) is really effective for these types of cases, said North Van RCMP’s Sgt. DeVries.

The initial investigation of a series of crimes committed by one individual might be handled by different patrol shifts, and they are on fixed, regular schedules, said DeVries, adding that their scheduled time off can slow down this particular type of investigation.

“We developed the UCRT to address this gap. They have flexible schedules, they have the ability to come in on short notice, and they can collaborate with the various shift officers to coordinate these investigations. They’re fast, they’re agile, and they get great results.”