City dodging carjacking trend for now
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/07/2022 (1321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
While carjackings are rising in Winnipeg, Brandon isn’t seeing the same increase in violent vehicle thefts, police say.
In the provincial capital, there were 59 carjackings reported in the first four months of the year, which puts the city on track to surpass the total of 125 in 2021, according to the Winnipeg Police Service. In 2020, there were 113 reported to police, 126 in 2019 and 103 in 2018.
But there haven’t been any reported in Manitoba’s second-largest city so far in 2022, according to Brandon police public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas.
Sararas said police don’t know why Brandon isn’t seeing carjackings, when in Winnipeg they are a persistent problem. She hopes it’s not a trend on its way to the Wheat City.
“Sometimes what happens in Winnipeg, there’s a delayed reaction and it will happen here. I hope that’s not something we’re going to see.”
There were two carjackings reported last weekend in Winnipeg, including one where a man was allegedly confronted with a knife and a gun before suspects stole his vehicle, police say. The rise in these types of incidents was blamed on increased “desperation” by some people with substance-use habits.
There haven’t been any carjackings reported in Brandon, but vehicle theft remains a problem locally.
In the first five months of 2021, there were 40 vehicle thefts, and there were 39 reported to police in 2022. There were 96 theft of motor vehicle charges laid by police in 2021, 89 in 2020 and 127 in 2019, according to Brandon police annual reports.
“For the most part, the thieves somehow gain access to the keys. There’s very few where they don’t have access to the keys,” Sararas said.
Vehicle thefts are often crimes of opportunity and are commonly stolen in the winter when people leave cars running to warm up, or leave them running in store parking lots with the keys inside, she said.
Sararas advised motorists to be aware of their surroundings and anyone approaching the vehicle while it is running.
“What they’re being used for, whether it’s just a thrill, or just a way to get from point A to point B, or to use while they are carrying on other crimes in the drug subculture — it could be a variety of all of those reasons.”
Despite carjackings not being a problem recently in Brandon, they have happened in the Wheat City and the community is not immune to them.
In 2014, the Sun reported a man was charged after reportedly approaching a vehicle downtown to ask for a cigarette. He pulled a knife and demanded the vehicle be turned over, but the victim got out and ran away.
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay_