Unbeknownst to the officer, a male arrested for stealing a bottle of pop in Uclulet was a Saanich armed robber on the run.
On Friday morning, June 3rd, a Uclulet convenience store contacted the RCMP about the shoplifting of a bottle of pop. A description was provided and a patrol officer spotted the male a short distance away. The suspect was contacted by the officer and he gave what was thought to be a fake name.
The patrol officer did not believe the male when he stated he had never had any identification or driver license, nor had he ever had any contact with the police. Being unsure of his identity, the officer arrested the suspect for theft and took him to RCMP headquarters in Uclulet.
Once in cells, fingerprints were taken and sent away to Ottawa to confirm his identity. Meanwhile, the officer proceeded to conduct some database queries. With only a first name and a possible date of birth, the officer managed to figure out who the suspect was.
Confirmation came by way of the fingerprints from Ottawa that the male arrested was Vaughn Edward Zopf, a 45 year old male, of no fixed address.
Zopf was found to have a total of ten outstanding warrants for Armed Robbery related offences, Theft and others. The three robberies allegedly committed in Saanich were in August 2010: CIBC Tillicum rd, TD on Shelbourne st and TD on Quadra st.
Zopf was held to appear before a Provincial court judge.