Drumheller RCMP recovered a stolen vehicle within 30 minutes Friday after a citizen reported what she thought was a suspicious vehicle.
The victim left their truck running outside of 7-11 for five minutes on the morning of October 19 and when they returned it was gone. About a half hour later a resident saw the vehicle in her back alley, took down details of the vehicle and reported it to police. The suspect left the scene before police arrived. The vehicle was a 1999 black Dodge truck.
“A lot of time in situations like this, the people don’t really leave anything behind, but in this case it happened right away,” constable Marcel Hiemstra said. “We always take tips from the public seriously and look into them when we can.”
This comes after a similar recovery of a stolen 2011 grey Dodge truck on Thursday, which was taken from a hotel parking lot but soon recovered parked in the Walmart parking lot early in the morning. The suspect again left the scene before police arrived.
The crimes are reason why RCMP urge people to not leave their vehicles unlocked while running and to remove valuables and items such as garage door openers or private documents in vehicles. Individuals without command/remote start can use a spare set of keys to lock the doors while running.
Anyone with information relating to the thefts are asked to contact either the Drumheller RCMP detachment at 403-823-7590 or submit a tip anonymously through CrimeStoppers.
