A rash of vehicle thefts in the area has prompted the RCMP to send out a warning to residents to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
Cpl. Brian Evans of the Keremeos detachment said three vehicles were stolen and thieves attempted to steal a fourth over four-day span mostly occurring over the weekend.
“We’re looking into how these might be connected. When there’s a spike like this it’s likely that it’s a group of people that have come into the area to steal vehicles. But we can’t confirm that yet. We haven’t recovered any vehicles at this point, so that also points to it being a few individuals or a group doing this,” he said during an interview with the Keremeos Review on Tuesday.
Thefts of vehicles started occurring May 20. A 2002 black Mercedes was taken from Lucky R mobile home park on Highway 3.
“We do have some kind of suspect in that one. In this case the owner was approached by someone that asked for a ride to a gas station. It appears the suspect likely took the keys from the Mercedes that were in the pickup truck the owner and him were driving in,” he said.
Sometime overnight on May 20 there was an attempt to steal a Ford truck from a home on 6th Avenue in the 300 block.
Later that morning between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. a 2002 Ford F250 was stolen from a home on 11th Avenue.
On Tues., May 22 around 5 a.m. a silver Dodge truck and aluminum horse trailer were stolen from a home on River Road.
“Usually in these cases there is a small group of people doing these things and either they get caught or move on. We’re encouraging the public to reach out to us if they see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary,” he said.
There were other thefts and attempted thefts in the last week. On May 17 a red gas log splitter was stolen from a home on Highway 3 in Cawston.
“We’re looking to locate this. If anyone sees someone with newer log splitter that isn’t theirs they should call and let us know,” he said.
And on May 21, Evans said an attempted break and enter or vandalism occurred at a home near where Middle Bench and Upper Bench roads meet. The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m.
“It’s not clear if they were trying to break in or cause mischief there. The railing was damaged and some other things,” he said.