A central Alberta pickup truck was stolen twice within a month — once from its owner in Innisfail, and later after it was sold to a Red Deer family.
The Red Deer family purchased the 2005 Ford 350 on Friday, and by early Sunday morning, it was gone.
“We had it for 34 hours. On Sunday at 1:30 a.m., it was stolen,” said the owner, who did not want to be identified.
She said video from a neighbour showed someone dressed in black stealing the truck.
“It only took about four minutes to get into the truck, start it, and then drive off.”
She said her family had been looking to purchase a second vehicle for a while.
“We finally got the perfect one. Low kilometres for a diesel. Exactly what we needed.”
The previous owner told them the truck was stolen from him overnight, despite having the battery disconnected and a Club on the steering wheel to deter theft. It was recovered three days later with the fuel siphoned, and the windshield, door handle and ignition damaged.
All the damage was repaired and the Red Deer family was going to get a licence plate for the truck on Monday.
“Now, we just wait. Hopefully, they’ll find it.”
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Red Deer RCMP Sgt. Karyn Kay said thieves do target trucks more often than cars. In November, 88 vehicles were stolen in the city, including 45 trucks.
She said the number of stolen vehicles has not increased recently, but more tend to be stolen when the weather gets colder.
To help recover stolen vehicles, the detachment has a “hot car list” that is circulated daily to officers. Five members are also dedicated to investigating stolen vehicles as part of Red Deer RCMP’s crime reduction team, she said.
“We really stepped up our game in response to stolen vehicles. We have a team out there looking for them. They are super successful,” Kay said.
Crimes are often committed using stolen vehicles, so it’s important to find them, she said.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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