VANCOUVER -- Police in Surrey say a local man has pleaded guilty to 13 charges related to break-ins in five different cities across the Lower Mainland.
Anthony Vossler was initially facing four counts of breaking and entering, but police were able to link him to nine other incidents. The nine additional charges were added on Feb. 3, and Vossler pleaded guilty to all 13 charges later that day, Surrey RCMP said in a news release Wednesday.
The Surrey RCMP investigation began in Sept. 2019 when police received a report of a break-in at a business near the intersection of Fraser Highway and 160 Street.
"While there was little evidence at the scene, officers took note of the unique characteristics of how the offence was committed," police said in their release.
In an email to CTV News Vancouver, Surrey RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Joanie Sidhu said she could not elaborate on what made the crimes "unique." She did confirm that police were able to link Vossler to some of the subsequent break-ins because those incidents shared the same unique characteristics.
Investigators soon linked the initial offence to others that occurred in Surrey and Langley in November and December of 2019. In May 2020, four counts of breaking and entering were laid against Vossler and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He was arrested later that month and released on conditions, police said.
Police continued their investigation, eventually identifying nine other break-ins in which Vossler was implicated. These incidents occurred in Surrey, Burnaby, Delta and Coquitlam between December 2019 and April 2020.
“This was a complex investigation that involved numerous offences in different jurisdictions,” said Surrey RCMP Insp. Mike Hall in the news release. “Our officers used a number of advanced crime solving techniques including forensics to piece together this series of break and enters.”
