Man loses pants after allegedly fleeing with money from B.C. transit machine

VANCOUVER – A man who broke into a ticket vending machine at a Metro Vancouver SkyTrain station allegedly took off with lots of money but not his pants.

Transit Police spokeswoman Anne Drennan said the man caught his pants on some wire as he was running from one of five break-ins last month at three stations — one in Vancouver and two in Burnaby, B.C.

Video surveillance shows that in the incident on Aug. 27, a suspect’s track pants get caught on a roll-down steel mesh gate and when he tries to retrieve them, his buddy shoos him away before the two run off.

“They’re tear-away track pants, which are not in fashion anymore,” Drennan said Wednesday.

“He runs back and tries to get them and they’re hooked, and his buddy’s saying, ‘Go!’”

Two or three men are involved in the heists, Drennan said, adding that besides pants, they wear dark clothing and cover their faces with bandanas or hats and hoods as they use crowbars and screwdrivers to commit their crimes.

In one incident, a white Jeep Cherokee was used and later recovered as a stolen vehicle, she said.

About $2,000 has been stolen, and damage to the machines is estimated at $7,000.