Vancouver police recover some gifts stolen from Salvation Army

Vancouver police say they've recovered some of the Christmas gifts stolen from a Salvation Army warehouse earlier this week.

Thieves broke into the charity's warehouse in 3300 block of Fraser Street on Thursday, and took more than 80 boxes of toys and meat worth approximately $25,000. The stolen goods were destined for disadvantaged teenagers this Christmas.

The Vancouver Police Department recovered eight of those boxes after executing a search warrant at an eastside Vancouver home Friday night.

Two women, aged 25 and 39, and a man, 57, were taken into custody for questioning, said police spokesman Const. Tim Fanning, but all three were released.

Numerous people live in and use the house where the boxes were recovered, Fanning said, and further investigation is required to determine whether the three should be charged.

He said everyone who uses the house is known to police, and said police aren't releasing the address for fear the house might be targeted by vigilantes.

Fanning said officers worked tirelessly on the case, and the community support was tremendous.

"This is such a terrible crime and it's really struck home to the community. People have stepped forward to help the Salvation Army," Fanning said.

Maj. Brian Venables, the Salvation Army's divisional secretary for public relations and development, said they're fortunate to have recovered even a small percentage of the stolen items.

"We are very fortunate living in Vancouver. We've got a very caring community," Venables said. "If someone wants to steal from us, they're stealing from the community … It was a robbery from the whole community."