Police were busy over Thanksgiving weekend when a rash of car thefts hit the city.
Between Saturday, Oct. 8 and Monday, Oct. 10, seven vehicles were stolen from neighbourhoods across St. Albert. One of the stolen vehicles, a Jeep Cherokee, was found shortly after the theft only six blocks away.
An eighth theft was attempted but the vehicle never left the driveway and no suspect was seen in the area. The vehicle, a 2012 Ford pickup, had been left running and rolled into a second truck sitting in the driveway.
The vehicles that were stolen include a 1997 silver Honda CRV, 1995 black Honda Civic, 2006 blue Ford F350 pickup, 2009 white Toyota Tacoma pickup, 2012 silver Ford F150 pickup and 2015 silver Ford Escape.
These thefts occurred in the areas of Alderwood Boulevard, Elise Place, Grandin Road, Bocock Place and Huntington Crescent.
Police continued the eventful weekend, dealing with nine reports of theft from vehicles. The thefts occurred in the areas of Grosvenor Boulevard, Oak Vista Drive, Kendall Crescent, Garraway Place, Falcon Crescent and Springfield Crescent.
Some items stolen were of considerable value such a large compressor, a Dewalt chop saw, Sawzall reciprocating saw, circular saw and a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop. Other items stolen include a licence plate, insurance and registration papers, a GPS, a wallet, keys, a garage door opener and various other tools.
St. Albert RCMP are reminding residents to ensure valuables are removed from vehicles, keys removed and doors locked so as to remove opportunities for thieves lurking the streets looking for easy targets. Police say most often theft from vehicles is a crime of opportunity, where criminals walk through neighbourhoods looking for unlocked vehicles or open garage doors.
Police also responded to three break and enters over the holiday weekend.
On Friday, Oct. 7 the police received a report that eight units at Rock Solid Mini Storage had been broken into. There is no list of missing items available at this time and the investigation is ongoing.
On Sunday, Oct. 9 the front window of Popeye’s, a supplement store, was smashed at 4 a.m. and articles of clothing were stolen. The suspect was wearing a balaclava and appears to have left in a green 2000-2003 Chevrolet Malibu.
On Monday, Oct. 10 a 2014 Black Ford F350 truck backed into the glass front of the Quizno’s at 700 St. Albert Road. The truck was reported stolen to Morinville RCMP later that morning.
Anyone with information about these or any other crimes is asked to contact St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700 or the Morinville RCMP at 780-939-4550. Anonymous tips can be provided to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or at www.tipsubmit.com.
