Crime Wave in the Village
There has been an unusually high amount of break-ins, robberies and home thefts recently in the area. A number of homes, garages and sheds have been robbed, sometimes while the owners were home.
Residents in Tobique Narrows have been targeted recently. One resident was robbed as he and his wife took their dog for a walk. The thieves apparently watched them leave their home, then broke in.
This resident was actually able to identify the thieves… they had taken an I-Pad that had an app installed to identify it as stolen property. A student in Fredericton had bought it on Kijiji, and promptly called the owner when the app activated.
The Perth-Andover Irving was broken into recently, with thieves smashing the door in and grabbing cigarettes and one candy bar. Manager Rachelle Broad noted that it is going to cost more to replace the door than what the stolen items cost.
The thieves were filmed by the security cameras. They are completely masked and hooded, but perhaps someone could identify them if they saw the film, stop in and take a look.
Council and local business owners met at the Village Office recently to discuss ways to stem this tide of crime and property damage. RCMP Officer Max came to offer advice and explain our rights as citizens when it comes to dealing with local crime.
The business community wants to create a plan to implement a neighbourhood watch and Citizens Against Crime program.
The best way for our community to fight crime is for everyone to get involved. We the people need to be the eyes and ears of the community.
Most of the break ins occur in the late night hours, but many of the brazen home robberies are occurring in broad daylight as the owners are at work, or, as we have seen, out walking their dog.
Homes that are somewhat isolated, with no near neighbours are particularly at risk. If you don’t already know, get familiar with your neighbours’ vehicles and schedules. Pay attention, and take notes. The importance of this was illustrated by a story Reg Grant told.
A few years back he had just purchased a brand new riding lawn mower, and he came home one day to find it gone from his garage. It had been stolen in broad daylight! He could see the tire tracks in his lawn where the thieves had backed up to the garage and loaded the mower, then driven off.
Reg went to his neighbours and asked if they’d seen anything. Sure had, two of them replied!
One had seen a brown Ford back up to the garage, and the other said he clearly saw a red Chevy load the mower, but didn’t think anything of it.
As it turned out, Reg’s own father had come over and borrowed the mower, as his had broken down….and his truck was a blue S-10!
So, keep a sharp eye out, take notes and don’t trust your memory…
