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No jail time for senior convicted of property crimes

74-year-old convicted of theft of new truck, trailer and excavation equipment.

A Langley senior was given an 18-month conditional sentence for stealing a brand new Dodge pickup in a test drive and several property theft crimes two years ago.

A trial concluded last month and 74-year-old Roelof Den Dryver was found guilty of theft over $5,000, stolen property over $5,000 and reporting a crime that was false.

He was acquitted on a charge of assaulting a police officer. He was sentenced on Friday in Surrey Provincial Court.

After a lengthy investigation, charges were laid against him and his co-accused Derek Hall, 31. They are accused of stealing a bulldozer and trailer.

Den Dryver attended a local dealership and test drove a new 2012 Dodge pickup.

A short time later, he reported to police that he had been carjacked and the truck had been  stolen.

Later that month, Langley RCMP received a report of a new Dodge pickup truck parked in the trees on the property where the two men live in the 6600 block of 256 Street. However, when officers went there, no truck was found.

Also that March, Langley RCMP received a report that a Caterpillar loader and a Komatsu bulldozer had been stolen from a construction site.

During the search, both the loader and bulldozer were recovered, as well as a key for the new Dodge pickup that had been taken for a test drive.

Additionally, a large utility trailer was located on the property and determined to have been stolen. It was returned to the owner.

Hall is expected to be back in court for those charges in December.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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