Man arrested for stealing purse containing cremated remains

VANCOUVER – A woman who had just lost her husband of 61 years has been reunited with his cremated remains following a recent theft in Surrey.

RCMP say on April 29, plain clothes officers from the Surrey RCMP Auto Crime Target Team spotted a stolen car being driven through Surrey. The team kept him under surveillance and the driver eventually stopped at a cemetery in the 14600-block of 72 Avenue. The officers thought he was going to dump the car, but then they saw him running back to the car with a purse. It was later discovered the man had allegedly broke a window of a parked vehicle at the cemetery and then stole the purse.

It was discovered the purse contained cremated remains in an urn. The victim was a woman who had just lost her husband of 61 years.

The suspect was arrested a few blocks away. He was also wanted at the time on two outstanding warrants.

Michael Grant John Pritchard, 43, is currently facing charges of possession of stolen property, possessing a break-in instrument, mischief, theft, unauthorized use of credit card data, and dealing with an identity document without lawful excuse.

“This incident demonstrates that those who are involved in theft of vehicles are very often involved in additional criminal behavior such as; theft from vehicle, break and enter and robbery,” said Cpl. Scotty Schumann of the Surrey RCMP in a release. “We are very grateful that we were able to act swiftly to return the stolen items to the person who owned them, she was already going through a grieving period having just lost her husband.”

Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers, if they wish to remain anonymous, at 1-800-222-TIPS or www.solvecrime.ca.