West Shore RCMP recovered a laptop stolen from a Colwood home after the victim tracked down the IP address and discover its location.

The laptop and a TV were stolen in a break and entry into the home of Leigh Garrod on Tuesday, June 5 on Marlene Drive.

Later, while using an online file hosting service, Garrod noticed his account had been logged into after the theft. He traced the login and determined the Internet Protocol (IP) address, which can be used to identify a site-specific server.

"As soon as they open up the computer and connect it to a wireless network somewhere, it identified where it was and I was able to see that," Garrod said, about Dropbox, the service he used. "It's pretty cool."

Garrod gave West Shore RCMP the IP address and they traced it back to a residence on Bellamy Road in Langford. After obtaining a search warrant, police went to the home and found the laptop. The TV was not there.

Neighbours also noticed the original break-in and one even wrote down the licence plate number used by one of the suspects.

When police arrived to search the Bellamy Road home, one female was in the house at the time. Another resident was not home. Police are investigating how the laptop came to be in the house and whether any charges can be laid.

"I'm pretty happy with the service from the police, I have to say," Garrod said.

Since January, there have been three unsubstantiated break and enters, eight confirmed break and enters and one home invasion in Colwood. There are no suspected connections.

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