Four attempted vehicle thefts in Tisdale

Jessica R. Durling, Reporter

TISDALE — Over a two week period, the Tisdale RCMP responded to four separate attempted vehicle thefts in town.

“We’re seeing a little bit of an increase in attempted vehicle thefts,” said Cpl. Mike Benjamin with the Tisdale RCMP. “We just want to remind everybody to make sure their property is secure, keys are not in the ignition, and just keep an eye out for suspicious activity.”

Three of these vehicles have been recovered, including one where the suspects attempted to push a vehicle away from the owner’s residence.

“In one incident, suspects repeatedly tried to steal a trailer with the quad on it,” Benjamin said, adding they were unsuccessful.

At the present time, Benjamin said the detachment is investigating each incident as separate crimes of opportunity.

The vehicle that hasn’t been recovered involved the keys being left in the ignition prior to the theft.

“The biggest problems we have is people leaving the keys in the ignition; leaving valuables such as wallets, presents, high value items, iPads, cellphones in the vehicles; [and] leaving vehicles running,” Benjamin said.

“We’re coming into the winter season, we see it a lot where people leave vehicles running with the keys in the ignition and then they go into stores. Those are perfect opportunities for people to grab onto property.”

From Sept. 30 to Oct. 14 the Tisdale RCMP responded to 77 calls for service, including the four attempted car thefts, five calls under the Mental Health Act, one impaired driver, and two collisions.