An Australian tourist travelling to North America for the FIFA World Cup says a theft at a downtown Vancouver hotel nearly derailed his trip after thieves allegedly stole luggage containing his passport and other essential travel documents.Reuben Williams, founder of the Australian sports-industry consultancy SportsGrad, said the theft occurred while he was staying at the Level Hotel in Vancouver with his father and brother during the tournament.According to Williams, the stolen luggage contained his passport, wallet, and laptop. He said he had left his bags in the hotel lobby and stepped out briefly to grab a coffee before boarding a bus to Seattle, only to return and discover his belongings were missing."The hotel staff checked CCTV footage, and two 'junkies' came in off the streets in an opportunistic moment to take the bags and off they went," Williams said in a social media post Wednesday.Williams said the suspects allegedly used his stolen bank cards at several convenience stores, racking up approximately $600 in charges. He added that investigators were able to identify two suspects with the help of surveillance footage..The incident was reported to the Vancouver Police Department, while Australian officials worked to issue Williams a temporary passport so he could continue following Australia's World Cup campaign.Originally, he was told he would not have been able to go to the US with a replacement passport, but later that day was approved to cross the border.At the moment, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) have warned World Cup visitors about property crime, theft, scams, and opportunistic offenders during the tournament, but have not publicly tied this particular theft to any specific demographic group.According to The Breaker News, from 2021 to 2025, theft reports to the VPD grew from 9,097 to 13,317. As well, the property crime rate per 1,000 population went from 13.1% to 17.68%.
