Criminal Saga: Richmond Family Saw Second Attack And Theft At Their Home While Old Tandoori King Restaurant In South Vancouver Was Victim Of Attempted Break In By Criminals Using A U-haul Van Rented From North Vancouver!

Why Are Police Forces Not Taking Break-And Enter Property Crime Seriously After Indo-Canadian Home In Richmond And Business In Vancouver Targeted

The Richmond Indo-Canadian family saw a second attack on November 18 at their home with criminals posing as by-law officers. While well known Photojournalist Sukhwant Singh Dhillon, a regular photo contributor to DesibuzzCanada was almost a victim of break-in at his popular South Vancouver restaurant Old Tandoori King Restaurant where Criminals tried to break in and were using a U-Haul Van rented from North Vancouver.

By R. Paul Dhillon PHOTOS By Sukhwant Singh Dhillon

RICHMOND/VANCOUVER – An Indo-Canadian family in Richmond and a businessman in Vancouver are questioning police’s seriousness to solving property crimes after both were targets of criminals with the Richmond family suffering a more serious damage of theft.

The Richmond Indo-Canadian family saw a second attack on November 18 at their home with criminals posing as by-law officers.

While well known Photojournalist Sukhwant Singh Dhillon, a regular photo contributor to LINK and DesibuzzCanada was almost a victim of break-in at his popular South Vancouver restaurant Old Tandoori King Restaurant where Criminals tried to break in and were using a U-Haul Van rented from North Vancouver.

The VPD incident report regarding attempted break-in at Dhillon’s restaurant says: “Writer observed a suspicious male individual (1× picture attached) about 6’0 height wearing white jacket and blue jean, looking inside the Tandoori King restaurant. Writer immediately stepped out of the car to confront him. However, aforesaid individual walked away towards back of building and drove towards the alley (1× picture attached) in a White Guardian self storage Van with no MX 8147.Writer then came back to the original position to check everything and found all safe. At 0225 writer also told VPD officers who were near to location about incident,” wrote S/o Siddharth.

The break-in was foiled by the restaurant’s Security Guard, who chased the criminals. These two criminals were described as two White men, similar to the two men in the Indo-Canadian home robbery in Richmond.

Through quick detective work, Dhillon and the Security Guard were able to find the U-Haul Van abandoned nearby and took the license plate as well as a Surrey RCMP incident report card from the Van. They reported the attempt break-in to Vancouver Police, who have taken note but told Dhillon that since the criminals didn’t break in, there isn’t anything they can do about it including finding out who rented the Van from U-Haul in North Vancouver.

It was Dhillon who was able to ascertain from U-Haul in South Vancouver that the Van was rented from their location in North Vancouver. We are still trying to find out about the Surrey RCMP incident card that was found in the abandoned Van, which disappeared after Dhillon and the Security Guard found it and took pictures of it.

The Indo-Canadian family also phoned the police about their serious second incident of theft which Richmond RCMP are investigating. But the family were told on the phone that such break-ins, even where criminals are posing as by-law officers, is “not their high priority right now as they have many other cases.”

The Richmond RCMP did put out a press release on the Richmond break-in, saying shortly after 5:30 p.m. on November 18, 2019, front line Richmond RCMP officers responded to the 11000 block of Oldfield Avenue for reports of a suspicious occurrence.

Two armed suspects posing as Richmond City Bylaws officers forced their way into a residence. A woman in 30s was forced to the ground but managed to contact authorities. The suspects fled in a dark SUV prior to police arrival. Despite comprehensive patrols, the suspects remain outstanding.

The Richmond RCMP General Investigation Section has assumed conduct the investigation. Our forensic sketch artist was able to compose a composite sketch of one of the suspects involved.

Suspect #1 is described as:

· Caucasian man

· Possibly in his late 20s to early 30s

· tanned complexion

· medium build

· light coloured eyes

· around 178 cm (5’ 10”) tall

· wearing hard hat and coveralls

A detailed description of suspect #2 is not available other than he is male, wearing a hard hat and coveralls with his facial features hidden. On November 27, 2019 at around 11 p.m., front line Richmond RCMP officers responded to the same residence after neighbours reported hearing an alarm sounding. Suspects broke into the residence through the front door and fled in a U-Haul van with stolen property. The van was later determined to have been stolen.

Police believe that both instances were targeted. One of the occupants of the residence is known to police.

“Richmond RCMP is actively investigating these two incidents. We are hoping that someone in the community will be able to recognize the suspect in the composite sketch. We remind the community to be cautious and ask for identification and credentials when approached by anyone you are unsure about” Says Corporal Dennis Hwang.

If anyone has any information about this incident or the suspect depicted, please contact Constable K. Deshane of the Richmond RCMP General Investigation Section and quote file #2019-37989 or email us at Richmond_Tips@rcmp-grc.gc.ca Should you wish to remain anonymous, please contact Crimestoppers by phone at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).