Submitted
On Thursday, Feb. 6, Cst. Arsenault of the Maidstone RCMP Detachment was on patrol in downtown Maidstone and located seven running vehicles that were unlocked and could have easily been stolen in seconds.
Locating these seven vehicles took approximately 35-40 minutes. Cst. Arsenault secured these vehicles, located the drivers, and warned them how easily their vehicle could have been stolen and requested that they please turn off and lock their vehicles when they’re not in them.
On Feb. 10, an unlocked and running vehicle was stolen from a gas station in Maidstone. The attempted recovery of this vehicle involved members of the Maidstone, Cut Knife and Battleford RCMP Detachments for an easily preventable crime.
Vehicle theft is a growing concern in the Maidstone Detachment area with these vehicles not being stolen for re-sale but for use in additional crimes. It is common for RCMP officers to locate a stolen vehicle abandoned after it has been used in several crimes to prevent identification of those involved. In 2019 the Maidstone Detachment received 66 stolen vehicle complaints and six have been reported between Jan. 1 to Feb. 6.
Maidstone RCMP would like to remind the public to secure your vehicles.
