Several Olds and area businesses have been hit by tire thieves in the last few weeks.
One incident occurred just this past Monday.
Owners/managers of those businesses are frustrated, because they've been forced to upgrade their security at great expense, yet thefts seem to continue to happen.
And although they've reported the thefts to RCMP – even provided surveillance photos in some cases -- the culprits have not yet been caught to their knowledge.
The Tire Shop was hit by thieves for a second time at about 2:30 a.m. yesterday (Nov. 30). Before that, on Nov. 15, more than 50 winter tires and others were taken from a container.
Yesterday's incident resulted in only a few tires being stolen. But nonetheless, store owner Aaron Laviolette is frustrated that somehow the thieves weren't caught.
The opportunity to catch them seemed to be great.
“The cops caught them in action but lost them. I don't know how,” he says.
“Somebody in the trailer park heard all the commotion and dialed 911. That's how the cops came over here.
“They ripped the gate off the containers; they moved a motorhome. They pulled a truck out and pulled the bumper hooks off the truck – almost pulled the bumper off the truck,” he says.
“We were thinking somebody in Calgary has an independent shop and can't afford to buy tires; this is how they're doing it. I don't know.”
Laviolette says he's not sure what else he can do. He's discussed the matter with RCMP, but the thefts continue to occur.
“I'm at a loss, really; this has got to stop,” Laviolette says.
Until that happens, “I just keep putting things back the way they were and hope for the best, I guess.”
The Nov. 15 incident was similar, except the thieves came away with far more tires.
“They broke into the fence and pulled our truck into the middle of the yard and hooked on the container with a truck and a tow strap and pulled and pulled and pulled until it broke,” says.
Laviolette reported that theft to RCMP. As of late last week he had not heard from police regarding the investigation and to his knowledge, none of those missing tires had been recovered.
He has since updated his security, including reinforcing his compound fence with metal.
The whole matter is very frustrating, Laviolette says, because upgrading his security just adds to his costs.
Mountain View Dodge Chrysler was hit by thieves on Nov. 20.
Ryan Baum, the dealership's general manager, even knows exactly what time the theft occurred – 3:20 a.m., because it was caught by a surveillance camera.
It was the second time the business was hit and the first time since they installed surveillance equipment.
More than 20 truck tires and rims were stolen.
Baum says the theft was reported to RCMP, but as of late last week, he had not received any updates regarding the investigation.
“We are working to gather all our video feeds and tire/foot print patterns to make sure this person is caught,” he says.
“The last theft we had was done by a local Olds resident, which saddens me because of all that we (and the local) businesses do to help the community, that it would be one of our own stealing from us is hurtful,” Baum says.
“At this point we are unsure of if this particular incident was also by a local individual, but the RCMP are working with us to help find the person.”
Baum says theft has forced him to undertake $60,000 worth of security upgrades.
He finds the whole matter pretty frustrating and personally hurtful.
“It is the same as if someone broke into your home or car; you feel violated,” he says. “The cost of the tires is definitely going to affect an already challenging year, which doesn't help the emotional loss.”
Thieves broke into the Fountain Tire compound and stole tires on Nov. 13. It marked the second time that's happened this fall. The previous incident occurred on Oct. 28.
Owner Ray Prohl says it's probably the eighth or 10th time his business has been hit by thieves since it moved to its current location in the west end of town about seven years ago.
“I can't even imagine how much money we've lost here in that time (due to theft),” he says.
“On Oct. 28 they took eight drive tires that were semi tires. On the 13th they took a bunch of used tires out of the rack and three retreads. They were going to haul six. The other three they dropped because something must have scared them off,” he says.
“The second time we got hit on the 13th, I've got a picture of one of the guys. Usually when we see the guys stealing from us they're always wearing black hoodies. You never see their faces. But this last time on Nov. 13th I've got a good picture of the fella walking around the building,” Prohl says.
Prohl is galled by the brazenness of the culprit caught on the surveillance system during the Oct. 28 theft.
“When we got hit here on Oct. 28, the guy drives up here with his new three-quarter-ton Dodge truck and he's cutting the gate but nobody seems to see anything. And he just takes his time doing it,” he says.
Like Mountain View Dodge, Fountain Tire has increased security as a result of the thefts.
“It's ongoing, and we've probably got one of the best surveillance systems in Olds,” he says.
Fountain Tire downloaded images from the thefts and provided them to the RCMP. As of late last week, he hadn't heard anything from police on how the investigation is going. That frustrates him.
“You just never hear back,” he says. “It cost me $148 or whatever to download a CD for the RCMP and you just never hear anything back.”
That said, Prohl has heard unofficially that a semi tire was found west of town that might be one of the ones stolen from their business.
“I heard here last week that somebody did find one of our semi tires in the ditch. I think it was west (of town). Somebody dropped it off at the RCMP station. It's probably one of ours, but I've never heard anything.”
Prohl says the latest thefts involved customers' tires. That makes for a tough conversation with them.
“We've got to tell our customers that ‘your tires are gone,'” he says.
“They're not happy at all. But what do you do? I mean, I've done everything I can here for security. We just got an upgraded camera system last year that was a fortune. What else do you do? I don't know what else to do.”
Prohl says tires are expensive these days. He figures the thefts are a reaction to the economy.
“It's going to get worse because the economy's so bad. People are doing anything to (save money).”
He says the thieves could also be drug addicts stealing property in order to finance their habits.
“I don't even know where they're selling them to be honest with you. They've got to be selling them somewhere,” he says.
Because of the tire thefts, Laviolette urges all tire-selling stores to be careful and ensure that any customers who come in with tires they want placed on their vehicles provide proof of purchase of where they bought those tires.
"It's ongoing, and we've probably got one of the best surveillance systems in Olds."RAY PROHLOWNERFOUNTAIN TIRE OLDS
