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Tiny home stolen from Fraser Canyon Christmas Day recovered in Lillooet

Theives used U-Haul truck to steal tiny home, riding lawnmower and more from property south of Boston Bar
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A tiny home stolen from a Fraser Canyon property south of Boston Bar has been recovered 100 kilometres north in Lillooet. (Emelie Peacock/Hope Standard)

After a week of police work and a family’s plea over social media, a tiny home stolen from a property in the Fraser Canyon has been recovered 100 kilometres north of the area, in Lillooet.

The theft happened on Christmas Day from a shared property owned by Ben Garratt and friends. Thieves used a U-Haul truck to cart away the entire tiny home and its contents, and just about anything else that could be stolen from the property.

After receiving a tip on New Years Eve about a suspect attempting to sell a tiny home to the tipster, police recovered upwards of $80,000 worth of stolen property from a Lillooet home.

“When I turned up there with the kids and just noticed that the bolt had been cut on the front gate … and as soon as I came down the driveway I noticed that the tiny house was gone,” Garratt said when reached on Dec. 31.

Garratt builds tiny homes for a living, specifically those with non-toxic, repurposed and salvaged materials, with his company Tiny Healthy Homes. The stolen home would be worth around $55,000.

The other buildings on the property located south of Boston Bar were virtually cleaned out, with the thieves making away a propane fireplace, a variety of equipment including a riding lawn mower and a chainsaw, an inflatable raft, bedding and even food.

Boston Bar RCMP connected with neighbouring police detachments to track down the 8’x17’ tiny home. When a person reported that someone had attempted to sell them a tiny home in Lilloett, police were able to act.

A man was taken into custody and released. On Jan. 3, police returned to his property with a search warrant, seizing various items related to Garratt. A generator reported stolen from Coldstream in the North Okanagan was also recovered.

A 48-year-old Lilloet man faces charges in relation to the theft. His first court appearance is set for March 9 in Lillooet Provincial Court.

The community’s response after Garratt’s sister posted the theft on a Boston Bar area Facebook group, has been heartening.

“After getting sort of beaten down by that and feeling like the area is dangerous or that the community doesn’t care, it’s clear that the community does care and the majority of people there are really nice people.”

Their online appeals actually helped solve another theft of two tiny homes from Surrey on Dec. 28 Garratt said, when someone saw the post and said they’d noticed another tiny home being pulled into a driveway the morning after the Surrey theft.

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:
emelie.peacock@hopestandard.com


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