Double whammy for car owner

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

It was a very bad case of déja-vu: a few weeks ago, Kirkland resident Marie-Andrée Rumanek’s car was stolen while she was shopping at Fairview Pointe Claire – the second time in about one and a half years.

“It’s horrible,” she said. “The first time, my husband said, in the 30 years we’ve been together, we’ve never had a car stolen, so now it won’t happen again. But then it did happen again.”

Both times, Rumanek was driving a Mazda 3 and said she had left her car in a busy area of the shopping centre’s parking lot – the latest theft occurring on a Saturday when she was inside for about one and a half hours. The two experiences have left her sceptical of leaving her car out of sight, and Rumanek believes the problem is more widespread.

“I’ve been talking to a lot of people at Fairview and other places, and a lot of people have had their cars stolen,” she said. “When the insurance lady came over last week, she told me that, the same day, she had to go see another person who had their car stolen – the same kind of car as me – from the train station in Pierrefonds.”

While car thefts and theft in cars were down in 2007 in the West Island, local police say these kinds of crimes do still happen often.

In Pierrefonds/Roxboro and Île Bizard/Ste. Geneviève – the area covered by police Station 3 – car thefts were down 11.5 per cent to 226 in 2007 from 253 in 2006, while thefts in cars were down 15.8 per cent to 143 in 2007 from 165 in 2006. The train station parking lots for Roxboro-Pierrefonds and Sunnybrooke in Dollard des Ormeaux remain “busy for the burglars,” according to Station 3 Const. Dan Maheu.

“There’s no specific thing. It could be anything: old cars, new cars, expensive and non-expensive, American kinds, other kinds,” he said, adding last year, there was a theft network working in the area stealing expensive SUVs, sometimes right out of people’s driveways.

In police Station 5 territory (Dorval and Pointe Claire) – where Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and Fairview Pointe Claire are located – there were 597 car thefts in 2007, down 21.7 per cent from 762 in 2006. Vehicle break-ins were also down 19 per cent to 400 in 2007 from 494 in 2006.

According to Ginette Brisebois from the City of Pointe Claire, the city’s public security agents do their best to keep and eye on all the parking lots in the area and have two different awareness campaigns during the year: one for people leaving their parked cars’ windows open in the summer, and another during the holiday shopping season in November and December. The agents also hand out $30 tickets to people who leave their car doors unlocked.

“In Pointe Claire, we’re happy to have 24-hour public security. But, unfortunately, we can’t stop everything,” Brisebois said.

Local police said there are a few things people can do to make their car less attractive to thieves – both those who want to grab something from inside the vehicle or take the whole thing.

Station 5 Const. Lilana Bellucci said items such as steering wheel locks, like The Club, and car alarms can help scare thieves away.

“The more you put on a car, the less people are likely to hit,” she said, adding people should not hesitate to report anything that seems out of the ordinary. “If they see someone walking around in the parking lot, if someone is just roaming, be attentive and don’t be shy to call the police.”

Station 1 Const. Jean-Pierre Levis added that parking in a well-lit area with lots of pedestrian traffic can also help.

“The further and more isolated you are, the easier a target you are,” he said.

As for thefts in vehicles, all agreed there is one method of prevention: do not leave any objects in plain sight.

“People really are not aware of what they’re leaving in their car. Anything left in plain view can be a target. Thieves are not always the most discriminating type,” Levis said, adding if something needs to be left behind while your car is parked, make sure to store in the trunk. “But don’t put it in the trunk after you’ve parked in the parking lot. Somebody could see you do that. Put it in the trunk before you leave.”