Two Kelowna thieves chose the wrong car

Two thieves fell right into a police trap early Wednesday morning in Rutland. They were caught red-handed stealing a disguised RCMP bait car.

Police were alerted immediately when a man and woman fired up the engine of a planted vehicle in the Rutland area. The 36-year-old woman and 22-year-old man broke into the vehicle and drove as far as the 200 block of Highway 33 before taken into custody. Police also recovered a stolen mountain bike, break-in tools and more than 30 grams of marijuana from the suspects. Melody Decoteau and Tyler Newton are now facing charges of theft of a motor vehicle, possesion of stolen property and a controlled substance.

The car was planted by Emergency Communications for Southwest BC who were able to get descriptions of the suspects from a live camera feed in the vehicle.

Extra precautions are taken to prevent a bait-car from risking public safety. By monitoring the movements of the vehicle the communications team can decide at any moment to shut down the vehicle, disabling the drivers from making a risky escape.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Julie Whittet at jwhittet@infotelnews.ca or call (250)718-0428.