Car window smashings on the rise in Brandon

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This article was published 23/08/2023 (1163 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The number of vehicles that have had their windshields and back windows smashed is going up in Brandon, according to a local glass and autobody shop.

It’s typical for Boyd Autobody and Glass to see vehicles come in for glass repair because of rock chips, but since the beginning of August, there have been more calls about windows that were broken on purpose, a staff person told the Sun over the phone.

As of noon on Tuesday, “eight or 10 claims” had already been called in, which was confirmed by Rob Burns, market manager for Boyd Autobody in an email to the Sun.

Half a dozen vehicles on the top level of the Town Centre parking lot sustained extensive damage.

On one side of the parking lot, there were three cars – property of the Sun – that were vandalised.

Two of the cars had both the windshield and back window smashed, the other vehicle had unrepairable damage to the windshield.

A large rock was found inside one of the vehicle’s back windows.

On the other side of the parking lot fleet vehicles used by Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) to transport cargo or people were damaged as well.

“Over the weekend, PMH had a couple of fleet vehicle units vandalized that were parked at the Town Centre roof parkade,” a PMH spokesperson said in an email to the Sun. “PMH has filed a report with Brandon Police Service, Manitoba Public Insurance claims have been made, and the vehicles removed until they are repaired.”

Blocks away from the downtown core at Rotary Village retirement complex, two residents had a rude awakening when they discovered their back windows had been broken.

“The resident noticed his broken window at about six this morning, and then he realized there was another vehicle,” said a staff spokesperson who spoke to the Sun over the phone. “They came in and said, ‘you need to call the police’. There was a rock in the parking lot that both he and I saw, a rock that was between the size of a hardball and a softball.”

So far, Brandon Police have no suspects, witnesses or video, and officers are still investigating the calls of vandalism from Monday night to Tuesday morning, according to Const. Amanda Conway.

If caught, the person or persons could be charged with Mischief under the Criminal Code of Canada, defiend as someone who willfully destroys or damages property, either under or over the amount of $5,000.

Conway said there are more reports of vandalism during the summertime when the weather’s nicer, and people are out more at night, and added it’s, “definitely frustrating for more systems than just policing.”

“People can take their awareness into their own hands by being cautious, more cognizant about locking up their vehicles, parking in brightly lit spaces that have video surveillance, so that we can do our investigation, come up with a suspect and hopefully put an end to it,” Conway said.

The parking lot at the Town Centre has a sign that warns people they are parking at their own risk, but Tyler Byczkowski, manager said he, “felt bad” as soon as he was informed that so many vehicles were damaged.

“I feel sorry for the people, I do, especially if it’s more of a personal vehicle because that can be tough on somebody’s pocketbook, as well as the time they are without a vehicle while it’s getting fixed,” Byczkowski said.

Replacing the windshield and back windows require more time and expertise than side windows of a vehicle, said Boyd Autobody’s Burns.

“The windshield and back glass are both urethaned in place and do take more effort to replace than a door glass,” he said. “They are not hard to replace but do take a little longer due to cutting out the urethane adhesive and installing the new glass.”

In the case of vandalism, Manitoba Public Insurance will pay to repair the damage, less the applicabledeductible.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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