Closed businesses may be a target for thieves, warns RCMP

BARRHEAD – Business-owners who have shut down operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic may still want to check in on their properties regularly to ensure thieves haven’t made off with any property.

Staff Sgt. Bob Dodds of the Barrhead RCMP noted it’s common for cottage-owners who return to their properties at the end of winter to report break-ins that occurred while they were away. A similar situation may occur with so many businesses being temporarily shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve got some businesses that aren’t being open on a daily basis, and once somebody checks it, they’re liable to find out they’ve been broken into,” he said, urging business-owners to at least monitor the premises.

Dodds noted there has been a spike in thefts throughout the Barrhead area recently. When the Town & Country Today contacted him on April 15, he reported they had already gotten three stolen vehicle reports that week.

On April 10, RCMP and firefighters responded to a burning vehicle on Range Road 44. The vehicle was identified as a 2015 Dodge.

Four days later, the owner of the 2015 Dodge — who was out of the province at the time — reported the theft after someone had checked his property and saw his truck was stolen.

“That one was recovered before it had even been reported stolen, but it was burned in the meantime,” Dodds said.

On April 14, an old 1995 Dodge truck was stolen overnight from a business in Barrhead. It was recovered the following day after being abandoned in the county.

“It’s one of those trucks that’s so sold that it’s not worth fixing, but it’s still functional, right?” Dodds said.

Finally, on April 15, a white 2006 Ford F250 was stolen from a parking lot in Barrhead. Thieves were caught on camera stealing the truck at 1:15 a.m.

Dodds said a review of video footage reveals that the thief was able to hotwire the vehicle in less than 90 seconds. It was unrecovered as of April 17.

The suspects used a white four-door car in the course of the theft and police are working to identify that vehicle.

Dodds said a review of video footage reveals that the thief was able to hotwire the vehicle in less than 90 seconds. It remains unrecovered.

RCMP also responded to at least one attempted vehicle theft. At approximately 5:30 p.m. on April 16, the police received a report of several people trying to gain entry to a parked pickup truck. They then departed in a Pontiac Grand Am with a damaged front end.

Patrols were made and the suspect vehicle was observed on 49 Street. When members attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver fled north.

With public safety in mind, members did not engage in a pursuit. The police are still looking for the older black Pontiac Grand Am with damage to its front passenger side bumper.

Dodds noted they have adjusted their schedule at the Barrhead detachment to ensure shifts between members aren’t overlapping, which means they are operating at expanded hours.

“The reason we can achieve this is that most people can’t take holidays right now,” he said. “Hopefully these bad guys will see police cars at hours that they’re not used to.”

Physical distancing

Dodds said the RCMP has also gotten some calls regarding a lack of physical distancing at local stores.

That’s ultimately not up to the RCMP to enforce; it would be more appropriate to get in contact with Alberta Health Services, he said.

However, the RCMP would respond if there was a physical altercation resulting from people getting confrontational over proper physical distancing. Fortunately, that hadn’t happened at the time of this interview.

“I’m glad that people aren’t being pushy with each other or getting into any kind of altercations yet,” he said.

Dodds said it’s also up to businesses to take measures like placing arrows on the floor to guide foot traffic, or even restricting access to a certain number of customers at a time.

Kevin Berger, TownandCountryToday.com

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