A Vancouver Island woman has her stolen car back, but is none too pleased about finding a used syringe and other items left behind by the people who stole it.
Tiffany Braun awoke May 8 to find vacant boulevard where her 2000 Toyota Corolla should have been parked in front of her home on Poplar Street in Nanaimo.
She含羞草研究社檇 bought the car from a coworker in 2016 and relies on it to commute to and from her job at Nanaimo Airport, which isn含羞草研究社檛 served by public transit.
The culprits had the car about 12 hours when an RCMP officer spotted it on Bowen Road and .
Police confiscated drugs found in the vehicle and had the car towed to an ICBC holding yard. ICBC couldn含羞草研究社檛 return the car right away, since it had to be inspected for damage and the claim approved by an adjuster 含羞草研究社� a process that took about one week, according to Braun.
含羞草研究社淚 couldn含羞草研究社檛 even get a rental for the first week until the adjuster approved the claim,含羞草研究社� she said.
Braun含羞草研究社檚 insurance coverage paid for up to $500 to rent a vehicle while hers was serviced.
Braun said she was told she couldn含羞草研究社檛 have her car until it was cleaned, but after about three and a half weeks and the car rental allowance had run out, Braun asked for her car back.
It was returned, along with several bags filled with property found in it when police made the arrest. Her belongings, including the car含羞草研究社檚 owner含羞草研究社檚 manual, were stuffed in the bags with everything the suspects left behind. Bolt cutters, several cell phones and cell phone accessories, backpacks, clothing, syringes 含羞草研究社� used and unused 含羞草研究社� a small propane torch and propane bottles, a case of Kokanee beer and several flashlights, including one flashlight that she said had been stolen from her husband含羞草研究社檚 van six months earlier.
含羞草研究社淭here are three or four big, plastic clear bags that say ICBC on them, full of clothes and garbage and all of this stuff and a big, green Rubbermaid bin full of stuff and it含羞草研究社檚 not like they had gone between the seats and checked to make sure there was anything because that含羞草研究社檚 where I found one of the needles 含羞草研究社� down beside my seat 含羞草研究社� and then there was garbage underneath the seats,含羞草研究社� Braun said. 含羞草研究社淎ll they含羞草研究社檇 done with the bio clean is they just spray this substance on it and seal up the car for two days.含羞草研究社�
Braun donned a pair of rubber gloves, used tongs to pick up debris in the car, sort her belongings from the other stuff in the bags and wiped the sticky bio clean chemical from the car含羞草研究社檚 windows and controls. The chore took about five hours.
含羞草研究社淐an you imagine? That含羞草研究社檚 how they gave it back to me 含羞草研究社� they told me there was all this crap in there. They didn含羞草研究社檛 seem to care,含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淭he only thing they did agree to is it含羞草研究社檚 going for a detail.含羞草研究社�
Lindsay Olsen, ICBC senior communications specialist, said in an e-mail that when a stolen vehicle is to be returned to its owner, ICBC hires a licensed biohazard cleaning company 含羞草研究社� where the services are available in the province 含羞草研究社� to ensure the vehicle is safe before it is returned. ICBC also returns all safe belongings recovered from vehicles to customers, since it含羞草研究社檚 not possible to determine which specific possessions belong to them.
含羞草研究社淯nfortunately, in this case, a syringe was missed in a side pocket of the vehicle by the bio cleaning company,含羞草研究社� Olsen noted.
含羞草研究社淭he safety of our customers is of the utmost importance to ICBC and we take this matter seriously. Since learning of this error, we have formally apologized to the customer and addressed the mistake with the biohazard cleaning company to ensure this does not happen again for the safety of our customers, employees and business partners.含羞草研究社�
Olsen went on to say the recommended and standard process after a vehicle is bio cleaned, is that it含羞草研究社檚 towed to an auto body shop to be detailed, vacuumed and wiped down further, but in this case the customer chose to retrieve the vehicle before this step was completed and an opportunity to correct the mistake was missed.
含羞草研究社淣evertheless, the work of the bio cleaning company was clearly not carried out to our standards and we again, apologize to the customer for that,含羞草研究社� Olsen said.
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