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Publisher’s Note
It was 22 years ago when I arrived in Canada and chose Calgary, Alberta to be my home. Leaving my family and friends behind, it was a new adventure for me to be in a new country without knowing anyone. That was the time I looked for a Filipino community paper and never found any, [...]
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Red Deer Reports:

By Prodie Padios

Be Vigilant from Crimes of Opportunity

DELFIN, a 57 years old, and a loyal Red Deer Advocate Papers Carrier, was in a hurry to go to the paper dropping point, in Save on Foods in Easthill, to pick up his papers.

It was quarter to five in that chilly morning of last few days of fall 2015. Driving his 2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara, he was calm and unsuspicious to pick up his papers, as usual. He was doing this kind of job already for almost five years, and as he used to it, he didn’t realize that that particular morning, there was a danger waiting for him.

Upon entering to the vicinity of Save on Foods, he noticed that there were 3 men in a white van in front of McDonald. He thought that they were the very early morning customers of the fast food. He was yawning when he parked his car besides his bundles of papers at the side-bar of Save On Foods. He immediately went out from his idling car and picked up his papers.

But when he went back to his car to put his papers inside, he noticed that the 3 men in white van parked besides his car. One of the men immediately hopped off from the white van and approached at Delfin. Delfin smelled something fishy and he immediately got inside his car. But the man grabbed his jacket collar and in a second, he punched him at the face, and tried to steal the car. Delfin saw some stars, but he didn’t lose his composure, and as a martial arts enthusiast, he retaliated by imposing a back kick to the man’s groin.

The man was very huge and tall, maybe six-footer, and he just smiled at Delfin’s kick. He attacked Delfin, who was about to get in behind the wheel, again by banging the vehicle’s door, and Delfin’s knees were got hurt. The man tried to grab Delfin, but Delfin gave him hammer elbow straight to the nose of the man; his nose broken and there was blood oozed from it. Delfin immediately locked his car, and backed off and flew. That’s one of the modus operandi by the car thieves. They grab the car from the owner—right after your face!

If a car owner is not argus-eyed enough, like Delfin, his car might have been a victim of car napping. We have another Advocate carrier who was delivering papers somewhere in the North Red Deer.

It was snowing and very cold morning. In a street, he parked his idling car in front of a customer’s house. He usually didn’t switch off his car to retain the heat of the vehicle. He delivered the paper to the customer’s mailbox, but when he came back, he panicked because his car was already moving.

In front of the wheel, he noticed a young Caucasian man driving away from him.

The carrier didn’t waffle to report to the police about the car thief, before he called the Red Deer Advocate office and reported that he didn’t finish doing his deliveries because of what happened to him.

His bundles of papers, cellphone, lunch box and other personal belongings, like his wallet that contained his driver’s license, SIN, credit cards, etc., where inside his vehicle. Until now, his car was not retrieved yet.

There was another victim of car theft: he filled gas in one of the gas stations in Red Deer. Before he got inside to pay to the teller, he switched on his car. But when he came back, his car was gone! Another victim of car napping.

These are the only three victims of vehicle thefts happened here in Red Deer.

This is to prove that our city and surroundings are not safe anymore from these unscrupulous criminals, and the people—we—should be cautious and vigilant always.

As reported in Red Deer RCMP News recently, since November 1 this year, the police authorities received approximately 110 reports of stolen vehicles, and at least 28 of those vehicles were left unlocked and with keys in the ignition.

“It only takes a moment for an opportunistic thief to steal your vehicle; it happens while you run in to pay for your gas, and when you’re warming up your car in front of your house,” says Corporal Karyn Kay of Red Deer RCMP. “In a number of cases, people saw their vehicle being stolen. That’s how close they were to their vehicles and how fast these thieves can move.”

According to the RCMP, many stolen vehicles also contain identification, credit cards, house keys, chequebooks and other personal items, creating spin-off crimes that can have a significant negative impact on victims.

RCMP also said, a suspect recently attempted to get a payday loan using the name on a stolen social insurance number. RCMP also said, a number of suspects have written fraudulent cheques from personal and company chequebooks that were stolen from vehicles.

The RCMP reported that many vehicle thefts happen on impulse when criminals see easy targets such as unlocked, running vehicles; more thefts are done by criminals who move methodically from vehicle to vehicle, looking for the easiest target.

Criminals often steal vehicles to get from one place to another, or use them to commit crimes. Many of the stolen vehicles in Red Deer are recovered after having been used for these purposes and then abandoned, but others may be sold to illegal chop shops.

“There are a number of actions you can take to make your vehicle less attractive to criminals and to limit the spin-off damage they can do to you,” says Corporal Kay. “Most of these thefts are crimes of opportunity. The harder you make a criminal work to steal your belongings, the less likely they are to target you.”

As referred from the RCMP News, here are some recommendations to help prevent vehicle theft and spin-off crimes:

*Lock your vehicle every time you step away from it

*Do not leave keys in the ignition while fuelling up or inflating tires at gas stations

*Do not keep spare keys hidden in your vehicle or in your garage

*Always lock your garage, and lock the door between attached garages and homes

*Do not leave valuables in sight in your vehicle

*Do not leave wallets, purses or cell phones in your vehicle

*Keep insurance and registration papers with you rather than in your glove box

Red Deer Reports:

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