RCMP cruisers put their gas mileage to the test this weekend, responding to several incidents in the area.
Six break-and-enters and thefts from vehicles in the Laburnum area were reported on Sunday morning alone, said Corp. Dave Johnson.
“Ninety-seven per cent of these vehicles are left unlocked and unsecured and it’s basically a crime of opportunity — they’ll check doors and just go in, any sort of electronics, iPods, things like that that are easily accessible and even just change out of ashtrays,” he said
No damage was done to any of the vehicles, and Johnson said they do have people of interest in mind.
“It’s something that has been a trend over the past month and a bit but we’ve been aware of it and have been conducting an investigation into it.”
He said incidents have been reported all over Trail, but that it tends to be clumped and police will receive multiple reports that took place all in one night.
RCMP are strongly encouraging people to lock their doors and remove all belongings from their vehicles when they leave them.
“The best deterrent is to just lock your vehicle,” Johnson said.
In an unrelated incident, several RCMP detachments also responded to a call from Salmo, where it was reported that a man had climbed to the roof of the Dragonfly Café with a handgun.
It turned out it was just the local repairman, whose tools were mistaken for a weapon.
“We love the calls from concerned citizens, if you see anything, absolutely give us a call. This is just one of those calls that wasn’t what it appeared to be,” Johnson said.
“So we all got to drive out to Salmo fast and then drive home.”