Vancouver: "Brian Laidlaw" accused of "Crossing the Line" among Thieves.

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Brian Laidlaw, 39, pawned items he allegedly stole from a sick girl in B.C. Children's Hospital

The Vancouver Sun

Published: Monday, December 03, 2007

VANCOUVER - Vancouver Police are requesting the public's assistance in locating the man who stole a digital camera and a portable DVD from a patient at B.C. Children's Hospital, the VPD said in a press release Monday.

Bryan John Laidlaw, 39, had earlier been chased out of B.C. Women's Hospital and Health Centre on Oak Street by staff who suspected he was a thief after they caught him skulking around some of their wards, the release said. He later showed up next door at B.C. Children's Hospital, where a woman returning to her daughter's room found him allegedly packing the girl's DVD player and digital camera into his backpack. Although the patient's mother yelled at him, the man continued his actions and then ran out of the hospital, police said.

"We are horrified," said Cst. Tim Fanning, who said many of the photos on the camera were images of the girl in hospital and of the medical staff who have been helping her. "The incident was heart-wrenching for the officers who took the call. Not only was this stolen from the hospital, but it was stolen from a family with a very sick 17-year-old girl," he said in the release.

Laidlaw allegedly pawned the stolen electronics, under his real name, at the AAA Pawnbrokers in the 3000 block Main Street. Pawn shops in the city of Vancouver are required to enter the serial numbers of property and information about the seller into the Xtract system, a property-tracking database which is accessed by the police department.

 

Jackie Thomas, a civilian working with the VPD Anti-Fencing Unit, checked Xtract for the stolen items and quickly found where they had been pawned. Hospital security video of Laidlaw also matched existing VPD photos of Laidlaw, who is well known to them - he has a criminal record dating back to 1987 for a number of offences, police said.

The equipment has now been returned to the grateful family. However, Laidlaw, who is wanted for theft and for possession of stolen property, is still at large. He is described as 5'7" tall and 150 lbs., with short brown hair and likely cocaine sores on his face.

Anybody who knows Laidlaw's whereabouts is asked to call 9-1-1.