Prior to be scared off, someone gained entry last week to this parked truck by unscrewing the door handle. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Vehicle thefts

Vehicle thefts trending higher in 2021: SGI

Jul 18, 2022 | 5:00 PM

According to recent numbers provided by Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), claims related to vehicle thefts in Prince Albert are well on track to surpass last year’s numbers.

As of June 30, there were 196 claims related to thefts of vehicles. Of those, 150 have been recovered. Tyler McMurchy with SGI confirmed that even in these cases, the vehicle may have been written off.

“People don’t tend to drive stolen vehicles with the care that the owner of that vehicle would and they are often used in the commission of other crimes as well,” he said.

More recently the issue came to light in Prince Albert when there were three reported vehicle thefts on July 11. The incidents occurred in various places all over the city. Police have not confirmed whether there were any arrests.

The mid-year numbers provided by SGI compare to 321 for all of 2021, and 226 for 2020 which was considered though an abnormal year due to COVID. Provincewide, there were 1,550 claims reported to the end of last month, and 1,238 were recovered.

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SGI has also provided a list of the commonly stolen vehicles and for the fourth year in a row, the Ford F-150 Supercrew 4WD was the sought-after vehicle, followed by the Dodge RAM 1500 Crew Can 4WD, and Chevy Silverado 1500 Crewcab 4WD. McMurchy explained the list corresponds directly to the popular vehicles in the province.

“I think it’s very important for drivers and vehicle owners to do what they can to reduce the chance they’ll be victimized by auto theft, which is in many cases, a crime of opportunity,” he said.

Most commonly stolen vehicles. (Submitted image/SGI)

Acknowledging that some thieves are now using more sophisticated techniques to gain entry to vehicles, McMurchy said most thefts result from keys being left in the ignition or being easily accessible in some other way.

Prince Albert Police Service have also re-iterated this message on multiple occasions. In May there were 42 vehicle thefts, this represented a 23.53 per cent increase over May of the previous year when there were 34 vehicle thefts.

There were nine that had keys in the vehicle, 35 had unlocked doors while nine complainants did not know.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell