Increased Number of Thefts in the Cold Lake Area

RCMP report 7 B&Es and 13 Stolen Vehicles in a 5 day period

There has been a high number of theft in the City of Cold Lake, as well as it’s rural areas, reports Sergeant Troy Hadland of the Cold Lake RCMP Detachment. In a five day period, from September 2nd to September 7th, 2016, the detachment responded to seven break and enters and had 13 stolen vehicles reported to the them.

On September 2nd, the Cold Lake RCMP Detachment responded to a theft at a rural well servicing business. The business reported three white work trucks stolen, two Ford F150 and one Dodge. Thanks to GPS in two of the trucks the police were able to recover one near Pierceland, while the other was last known to be in Saddle Lake. The second truck with GPS has not been located yet. The location of third truck, the one without GPS, is not known to the police at this time.

Along with those three vehicles stolen, there was an additional 13 vehicles stolen from September 2nd to 7th. One car, two motorcycles, a skid steer, a quad, a snowmobile, a utility trailer, and six trucks.

Sgt. Hadland says theft is typically a crime of opportunity and there are certain ways the public can help protect themselves against this type of crime.

“Motion lights are good,” Sgt. Hadland says criminals can be deterred by the lights flicking on when they attempt to enter your property. “One of the best ways to protect your property is a dog,” Sgt. Hadland explains it doesn’t even have to be a big scary dog, “just the barking will often scare them off.” The barking also acts as an alarm and may even wake you up if there is an attempted theft at night.

Other tips Sgt. Hadland can give is to always lock your doors; at home, at work, your vehicles and garage or storage shed. Never keep valuables in your vehicles and try to keep valuables out of plain sight. Invest in an alarm system and if you are going on vacation or work out of town, ask a friend to check in on your property.