Spruce Grove business owner Dwight Waldner says he is lucky to have escaped unscathed after a recent run-in with a thief.
On Saturday afternoon, Waldner was out with his wife Sabrina and their four children when he got a call from his alarm company. He was told his shop at Xcaliber Crane and Rigging had been broken into.
Thinking it was an employee, he went to investigate with his family in tow.
They pulled up to the gate when he noticed two of his company trucks heading in his direction.
He said he got out of the car and came face to face with a thief attempting to steal the vehicles.
What happened next was caught on surveillance camera.
“He got out of the truck, left it in drive and let it roll ahead towards the fence. Then, he actually hit it with the other truck to push it into the fence,” Waldner said. “I was standing in the middle of the gate trying to think about what was going to happen and he backed up and then came right at it. My wife was here with all our kids in the car and she luckily backed up out of the way to make sure they were good.”
“My fear as I was just going in reverse was that he was going to deliberately hit my husband,” Waldner’s wife Sabrina said. “Having all four kids in the car, it was just that moment as a parent, sitting there, watching this – you’re praying he doesn’t get hit.”
Thinking quickly, Waldner realized he was running towards the side where the gate would come flying out and rushed to the other side. It was a narrow escape.
“He ran the fence and I was just lucky to get out of the way I guess.”
Sabrina said despite the loss of the truck as it took off, she felt a rush of relief knowing her husband wasn’t injured.
“It could have ended so much worse,” she said.
According to the mayor, there’s been a spike in crime in Spruce Grove recently. Across the province, police-reported crimes are up 18 per cent.
READ MORE: Spruce Grove mayor ‘mad as hell’ over recent crime spike
Waldner says he thinks he knows why.
“Look at the economy we’re in right now. Guys are probably trying to do anything they can do to make money,” he said.
Sabrina said the whole incident changed the way she thinks about Spruce Grove.
“It was such a good, small community. We weren’t worried about these things. Now, at 5 p.m. on a Saturday, you’re getting robbed.”
The stolen truck is a grey GMC Denali with the licence plate BTN 1590.
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