BARRHEAD - Thieves stole a fleet truck from the County of Barrhead’s public works yard during an early morning June 5 break-in.
The break-in is the second in recent weeks. Earlier this spring, thieves broke into the yard and stole one of the catalytic converters from underneath one of the fleet trucks.
Public works infrastructure director Ken Hove told councillors at their June 6 meeting that the break-in happened at about 2 a.m.
He said the culprits accessed the yard and broke into one of the workshops, stealing several vehicles' keys from a lockbox.
The individual then found a key to one of the trucks and escaped by crashing it through the closed public works yard gate.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun said that as part of the 2023 capital budget, council approved the funding for the purchase and installation of a fence to go around the entire yard.
She added that administration is reviewing their internal processes looking for ways the county can beef up security.
Oyarzun also noted that the remaining vehicles' ignitions and door locks have been re-keyed and that they have been secured.
Reeve Doug Drozd noted that the vehicle taken from the yard was the ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services) truck.
ALUS is a community-led, farmer-delivered initiative that supports stewardship activities on agricultural lands.
Originating in Manitoba, ALUS came to Alberta in 2010 and currently has chapters in a dozen rural municipalities. In addition to Alberta and Manitoba, ALUS is active in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island.
"It has had some bad luck," Drozd said, noting the truck was the one that had its catalytic converter stolen in the spring.
However, that streak of bad luck may have begun to change, as the RCMP have informed the county that they have located the truck.
Oyarzun said in a follow-up interview that from what police told her, the truck is in fairly good shape, with most of the damage being limited to the passenger side from when it smashed through the gate.
"It is missing one of its mirrors, things like that, but we won't know what shape it's really in until we have a chance to get it into the shop and inspect it," she said, adding that they will also have the vehicle fully detailed “because we don't know what substances the person who stole it had in the vehicle."
Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds said the investigation is still continuing, but unfortunately, it seems to be part of an increasing trend of break-and-enters in the detachment area.
He noted that although his members have had some recent successes in apprehending and charging individuals involved in several break-and-enters, most if not all have been released pending future court dates.
“(Regrettably charging them) doesn’t stop them,” Dodds said.
-with files from Kevin Berger
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
