Questions were swirling on social media last week as a huge police presence descended on a residential neighbourhood on Woodbine Avenue in Chilliwack on May 3.
In a joint effort between Chilliwack RCMP and the Abbotsford Police Department (APD), a well-known prolific offender in possession of a firearm who was wanted by police was arrested after a prolonged standoff.
APD spokesperson Const. Ian MacDonald said a witness observed the target making his way from Abbotsford to Chilliwack ending up in an apartment in the area near Maple Avenue.
MacDonald said the suspect is a “fairly active property offender” connected to numerous continued investigations involving stolen equipment and vehicles.
And while MacDonald could not confirm the name of the suspect, The Progress has learned it was Robert Patrick Callender, who has been wanted since a warrant was issued for him in Chilliwack on March 6.
MacDonald said police descended upon the complex and they were very confident the suspect was inside the home.
“We started negotiating and playing a bit of a waiting game and ultimately it ended with his arrest,” he said. “Inside the residence we found a loaded shotgun.”
The 35-year-old Callender is well-known to police in Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Hope. The file on which the warrant was issued is a breach connected to him being on bail for an alleged home invasion from November 2016 at a home in the 9200 block of Hazel Street.
Callender is charged alongside Robert Edwin William Mar and Jeffrey Michael Kizmann with the incident on Nov. 11, 2016. The three pleaded not guilty and have been ordered to stand trial in BC Supreme Court. A pre-trial conference in the case is scheduled to being Nov. 1.
Callender appeared in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack on May 7 and was remanded over to May 14.
• READ MORE: Quick response helps Chilliwack RCMP thwart home invasion
• READ MORE: Chilliwack prolific offender gets time served for property crime, impersonation
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paul.henderson@theprogress.com
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