‘Happening city-wide’: Halifax woman frustrated over constant car break-ins

One Halifax resident is speaking out after several car break-ins occurred in her apartment complex’s parking garage throughout the last year.

Sunny Tinkler, who lives at an apartment building in the city that contains a large parking space underneath, submitted a video to Global News on Feb. 5 that showed four parked vehicles side-by-side inside the garage with the windows smashed.

She said her boyfriend’s car and multiple other vehicles were broken into outside the location in early 2023.

“It’s not just a localized problem happening here, it’s happening city-wide,” she said. “It’s very frustrating, it’s very discouraging. I’m worried that it’s going to become a trend if not much is being done about it. It gives them free-range to continue to do it.”

In addition to the incident regarding her boyfriend’s vehicle and the most recent event, Tinkler said that her friend’s car along with four others was vandalized in January.

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“Within the last year, at least 20 to 25 cars were broken into in this area alone,” she said. “I know my friend’s car had a couple different things stolen. A hat of all things, phone chargers, whatever they had in the glove box, but they left a mess on the seats so you can tell that they’re tearing through stuff.”

Response from the building

Target Park, the company that owns the garage where the break-ins occurred, clarified over the phone that it will not take any responsibility for the vehicle damage and referred Global News to the property manager of a nearby apartment building.

Harbourview Apartments, one of the residential buildings situated above the parking garage, said in a statement that it is aware of the occurrences and has since reported these burglaries to the police.

“As we believe an investigation is ongoing, we do not believe it is appropriate to provide media comment at this time and would direct you to the Halifax Regional Police,” reads an emailed statement from the building, which is owned by the Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT). “Our building management team has, and will continue, to cooperate with investigators.”

Tinkler said despite reporting the incidents to the police, she’s frustrated that nobody has taken responsibility for the incidents that have occurred.

“There’s a sign at the entrance (of the parking garage) that says, ‘Park at your own risk’ so it absolves the building or Target Park of any responsibilities,” she said. “I think if we’re going to pay $120 a month for parking that there should be a relative amount of safety that comes along with that … I think if it’s just ‘Park at your own risk’, what are you paying for?”

‘A crime of opportunity’

Const. John MacLeod, the Halifax Regional Police’s public information officer, said officers are receiving reports of motor vehicle break-ins on a “regular basis.”

“It is a crime of opportunity. Individuals will walk along and look for those things they may find in vehicles,” he said, encouraging residents to avoid leaving valuable personal belongings unattended in their cars.

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MacLeod said these incidents appear to occur in “clusters” throughout the municipality and aren’t limited to select neighbourhoods.

“Individuals will appear in areas and usually make their way through a particular area breaking into a number of vehicles,” he said.

Despite the recent uptick in recorded car burglaries, Macleod said a lot of incidents still go unreported as some people don’t consider the stolen items have “sufficient value” for the attention of police.

“It is valuable information to us so we can not only investigate but know what is happening and what areas it’s currently occurring in,” he continued, adding that documenting the crime’s location is “essential” as it could be linked to similar incidents being investigated in the area.

As for Tinkler, she said she’d like to see increased security around parking garages where this behaviour is becoming more frequent.

“And for people to be more vigilant and if they see something, say something. Bring more awareness to the problem because it’s not just happening here, it’s happening across the city,” she said.