A local business owner is questioning the value of surveillance cameras after a man was caught on film damaging his property while police were on scene — and they only collected the evidence a day and a half later.
According to the video footage, at around 2 a.m. July 25 a silver four-door Chevrolet truck drove away from the Athabasca Husky gas station on 50 Street with the gas handle still in the vehicle. The video shows a police officer approaching the vehicle just before it drove away.
Husky owner Randy Skarpinsky said the damage is equal to “about a $1,000 bill.”
The footage shows the driver was heading west on Highway 55 and turned left onto 49 Street and into the gas station at 2:08 a.m. The suspect paid for the gas and began filling his truck as a police officer arrived at the gas station at around 2:09 a.m. and exited his vehicle.
In the video, the suspect appears to notice the approaching officer and jumps into his truck while still pumping gas. As the officer pulled out his flashlight and stepped toward the vehicle, the suspect took off westbound on 50 Street, ripping the pump off the stall.
A silver truck drove away from the station with the pump still in the tank as an RCMP officer approached the vehicle.
Athabasca RCMP Cpl. Dale Bereza said police do not know why the suspect fled — “possibly a warrant, the vehicle might have been stolen property but we can’t say for sure,” he noted.
Bereza also said the officer on scene did not pursue the suspect because he lost sight of him.
“In a situation like that, we will try to make the attempt to stop, but this guy took off,” he said. “And what happened is the officer actually went in, made sure everybody's OK. And then he went out to see if he can locate the guy, and he couldn’t locate him.”
Skarpinsky said the staff working that night was told by the officer that he did not pursue the suspect because he was alone and didn’t have back up.
This would be against protocol said, Bereza who denies the officer made that comment.
Police had not released a description of the suspect or the vehicle as of July 26.
Bereza said the RCMP are waiting to review the footage to see if they can identify the individual or his vehicle.
The officer on scene did not review the footage at the time because the staff did not have access to Skarpinsky’s office, Bereza also said.
“There’s only so many people that have access to my office,” said Skarpinsky. “If they were so interested to view the footage, why wasn’t a member there at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. in the morning?”
Skarpinsky said when he spoke to RCMP in the morning of July 25, they said “they didn’t know anything about it.”
“I reminded them around lunch time that they needed to bring a USB stick (for the footage) and still at 5 p.m., we didn’t have a USB stick,” he said.
Skarpinsky said the footage was then put on a USB stick for the RCMP — “they said they would come pick it up tonight, but I don’t know when,” he said July 26. He later said the RCMP picked up the USB at 8 p.m. that evening.
In surveillance footage, an individual was seen getting into a vehicle and driving away with the pump still in the gas tank.
“I read something in the paper just last week or the week before about how the RCMP wants town businesses to get surveillance cameras,” said Skarpinsky, referring to the camera rebate program approved by the Town of Athabasca council July 16.
The rebate program, championed by the Athabasca Citizens On Patrol, and will offer a one-time $50 rebate per premise within the town.
“The $50 rebate they’re offering ... doesn’t come close to the capital that we have to put into it, unless you’re buying cheap cameras off eBay or something,” he said. “It’s a big investment. You have to upgrade and computerize stuff. Technology changes. Cameras get old — they wear out, so it’s a constant upgrade.”
Skarpinsky said he is frustrated the RCMP are not following up about the video footage with more urgency.
“I understand that their resources are limited,” he said. “But they’re not interested (in the footage), not actively — or they would have picked up the USB.”
Skarpinsky said he does not see the value of investing in surveillance if the RCMP do not seem interested or have the resources to review it.
Skarpinsky said this is not the first time RCMP showed little interest in surveillance footage. He said the Husky had an incident happen late last year and after reviewing the footage, RCMP told him they wanted all their members to see it in the chance that someone would recognize the suspect.
“I said I wanted to put it on Facebook, because I knew that they would be identified right away. They advised not to do that,” said Skarpinsky. “So I waited at the store until I could find someone that may know these people. By five o'clock that afternoon, I had the name and phone numbers and addresses to those individuals. And basically took it to the RCMP on a silver platter. And they said to me, we're too busy to deal with this right now.”
COP president Rod Kerr said video footage is an extra tool for RCMP.
“It’s not a waste of anybody’s money,” he said.
“There are other problems that are happening — you know they’re understaffed,” said Kerr, referring to the RCMP. “That’s pretty sad isn't it? But cameras are going to help them.”
“And that’s why COP is approaching politicians and having meetings with various politicians that are responsible for the issue of understaffing,” he said.
“Whether somebody is apprehended right away or later down the line, that footage is there for us to use,” said Bereza. “Are cameras 100 per cent guaranteed to find who did it? No. But at the end of the day we try to use whatever we can find.”
