The Weyburn Police Service are investigating the theft of two motorcycles and over 90 metres of copper wire last Saturday. The two motorcycles are described as a blue 2014 Yamaha XT 250 and a red 1984 Honda 350 XR.
Constable Dallas Austin says this kind of investigation can be a lengthy process and video surveillance often plays a significant role.
“Everybody's got cameras now, the doorbell cameras, security cameras, everybody's taking the necessary steps to make sure that property isn't stolen from them. When you think that there isn't a camera, there's usually three or four. Somebody's got one across the street. Someone's got one in their window, that kind of thing.”
Austin says they also utilize social media as once a suspect is identified, retrieving the stolen property becomes far more likely.
“As much as Weyburn is a big city, it's also a small town and we all know everybody. So we see those individuals and if we might not happen to be able to recognize them, that's when we put it up on our local Facebook page and somebody recognizes them, someone comes forward and we have a really good chance of getting that property back and getting it back to the rightful owner.”
He encourages vigilance in ensuring property is secure saying “Sometimes we just kind of get in that groove of, not carelessness, but we get used to our surroundings and our block and [believing] it won't happen to us.”
“People might not leave their vehicles locked at night or they leave the key fobs in the vehicle also thinking ‘it's just in my driveway, nobody's going to steal it.’ We need to make sure that we are locking our vehicles and that we are taking every precaution as necessary and making sure that we keep our things safe. It doesn't matter what time of year.”
Anyone with information regarding this matter is asked to contact the Weyburn Police Service at (306) 848-3250, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
The Weyburn Police Service responded to 79 calls for service from November 18th to 24th. A total of nine charges resulted with one under the Criminal Code of Canada, seven under the Traffic Safety Act, and one under Vehicle Equipment Regulations.