Hope RCMP have recovered a stolen truck from Chilliwack.
Last Thursday (July 25) at about 7:40 p.m., police were notified that a 2006 grey Ford F-350 was taken from Townsend Park in Chilliwack. The next day, Hope RCMP received information that a truck matching that description was possibly being stripped for parts in the 58000 block of Laidlaw Rd. Officers attended the property and found the truck in the process of being dismantled. Police seized the vehicle for forensic examination.
“We’re still following up with a lot of tips on the investigation,” said Staff Sgt. Suki Manj.
“We’ve identified a few individuals but no one has been arrested at this point. We’re still trying to get the story straight from the people that had the truck, but it’s likely that we would have enough charges at some point.”
Manj said there’s been a recent increase in the number of recovered stolen vehicles in the area, which spans from the old toll booth on the Coquihalla Highway to Herrling Island on Highway 1. In particular, there’s been a spike in stolen Honda Civics and Ford F-530s.
“It’s hard to say why, but we’re the furthest east community in the Lower Mainland and there’s a big push everywhere else to reduce property crime,” said Manj.
“So, we do see waves like this and then we have to figure out who the people are that we think are involved and we start targeting them. Either they go to jail or they move somewhere else.”
Manj encourages residents to secure their vehicles the best way they can using a club or any other type of immobilizer, as well as keep items out of sight to help reduce the chance of being broken into.