Auto theft in the province dropped by 22 per cent in February despite thousands more cars on the roads during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, officials said Monday. According to the provincial government, 730 cars were stolen in B.C. in February, down from the 940 vehicles stolen in the same month last year.
Car thieves and fencers of stolen property could face stiffer penalties under new legislation introduced by the federal government Tuesday targeting property crime.
Tonight CBC Calgary News continued their special series on auto theft, Hot Wheels. The first part covered the Calgary Police Service’s HEATT (High Enforcement Auto Theft Team) and the second part focused on the police helicopter, HAWCS. The third part was about the role of the internet and the role it plays in today’s increasingly connected world. Making another appearance was “The Claw”, an epic happy ending story where forum members helped track down a stolen Skyline.
The CBC News clip can be viewed below. Our famous President and Co-founder, rage2 makes an appearance as does Moderator Jaymez and forum member Envision.
A man has died from injuries suffered during an early morning arrest at a 24-hour car wash. Police from the auto theft unit were following a vehicle in unmarked police cruisers when the driver pulled into a car wash at 3:15am. Police decided to move in to make the arrest by blocking the vehicle in the car wash bay when the driver attempted to ram the police vehicles to escape.
“While attempting to arrest the occupant of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred and shots were fired by one of our police officers,” duty inspector Vic Trickett said.
“There was only one option here — stop the offender,” said John Dooks.
What made deadly force necessary, Dooks said, was that the driver of the car tried ramming police vehicles positioned on either side of the bay in an attempt to escape.
Nearby residents who heard squealing tires and gunshots called 911 only to be told that police were already on scene. It has not been confirmed, but early reports indicate that the man who was shot was behind the wheel of the car. The passenger in the vehicle was not injured.
There was no mention on whether or not the vehicle involved was a bait car but judging by how everything went down it is unlikely this was the case. Incidents like this are all the more reason for having a bait car system where officers can safely shut down the vehicle and make a safe arrest.
Beyond Media, Inc.
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