It took less than one hour for Victoria and Saanich police to return stolen property and arrest a man for a break and enter on the 600-block of Cowper St. on Sunday.

Just after 3 p.m. on Dec. 16, a Saanich family returned home to discover unfamiliar noises upstairs. Fearing the worst, they notified Saanich police who discovered the rear ground-floor window had been broken and numerous items, including a laptop and jewelry, had been stolen.

Less than one hour later, two Victoria police officers discovered three males huddled around a bag of goods in a parkade in the 500-block of Yates street downtown.

When confronted, none of the men admitted ownership of the bag, so the officers took the property into their care to discover a laptop, jewelry, miscellaneous goods and a business card in a pillow case.

Not knowing who the property belonged to, the officer called the name on the card, contacting the victim who was reporting the crime to the Saanich police at his house at the time.

All three men are known to the police, two were released at the scene but a 44-year-old male was arrested and identified as a "prolific property-related offender" on parole and on probation for a previous break and enter.

The victims had all of their property returned.

reporter@vicnews.com