Facebook helps identify suspect
Vancouver police had already identified Rouslan Erchov as a suspect in a violent home invasion when his friend posted his photo on Facebook in August.
In the picture, Erchov, 28, is sitting in the back seat of a car flashing his middle finger, a distinctive tattoo on his right forearm clearly visible. Now Erchov is facing several charges, including robbery, use of an imitation firearm, break and enter and unlawful confinement in connection with the home invasion which occurred in the 3300 block of Dieppe in East Vancouver.
VPD major crime investigators worked with Calgary police to arrest the suspect in the Alberta city Thursday.
Security camera footage released by the VPD showed two suspects — one with an identical tattoo — outside the victims’ house on June 17.
Police said at the time that a young girl had a gun pointed at her by one of the suspects, who forced their way into the house wearing reflective work vests.
When Erchov’s photo was posted on the Facebook page of his associate Bryan Lehman on Aug. 13, the VPD was already on his trail, Const. Brian Montague said Friday.
Still, Montague said, having social media pictures of suspects can strengthen the case against them.
Erchov has no criminal record in B.C., but is known to police in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. There is a provincewide warrant for his arrest in Saskatchewan, Montague said.
Montague said it’s hard to imagine someone pointing a gun at a seven-year-old child. She “then went to her parents’ bedroom and handed a jar of change over to the thieves,” Montague said. “In addition to the coins, a number of undisclosed items were stolen from the home, including a unique Rolex watch.”
After police released images of the suspects “a number of tips were received and investigators expanded their search to include other provinces,” Montague said.
Erchov will be transported back to B.C. to face the charges here.
“This was a shocking and traumatic robbery for the sevenyear-old child and her family,” Montague said. “Investigators worked meticulously and diligently to identify, locate, and arrest this man to hold him accountable.” Anyone with information about the second suspect in the home invasion is asked to call the VPD Major Crime Section at 604-717-2541.
Meanwhile Lehman, Erchov’s associate, is also facing charges in Vancouver in connection with a home invasion-like robbery, The Vancouver Sun has learned.
Lehman, David Sinh Liu and Li-Chun Liu were charged with break and enter and assault with a weapon in connection with an attack on a residence on Kingsway in Vancouver Aug. 30. The trio also faces two counts of extortion in Burnaby on Aug. 30 and on Aug. 31. The Lius remain in custody, but Lehman was released on $1,000 bail on Sept. 11, court records show.