WINNIPEG — A St. James couple believes their vehicle was targeted by experienced thieves after most of the front end of their Chevy Malibu went missing while it was parked in their driveway.
Lesley Mantel woke up early Thursday morning to pick up a friend at the airport but when she went outside the hood, grill, headlights and other front-end parts were gone.
“At first I thought I was in a dream, I didn’t realize that anything like that could happen in such a quiet neighbourhood,” said Mantel.
She said the parts must have been taken between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
After phoning police, Mantel and her partner Patrick Cross began to survey the damage.
She said they found footprints around the vehicle, wires, nuts and bolts, a piece of a rubber glove, and a socket wrench inside the car.
“Nothing in our yard was touched at all, our trailer wasn’t touched, our jeep wasn’t touched, just the car, the car was targeted,” she said.
Mantel said it’s possible the car parts were destined to be sold illegally or used to replace parts on another 2016 Chevy Malibu that sustained front end damage.
Whoever removed the parts was able to make sure the horn didn’t sound and covered the lights with black electrical tape.
“These guys knew what they were doing. They did it in an efficient time as well,” said Cross.
“We’ve been victimized, our personal property is violated and now we’re kind of questioning the safety of us, our neighbours and everybody else around,” he continued.
Cross and Mantel are now planning to install a video surveillance system on the property and alarm systems in their vehicles.
Winnipeg police have opened a file on the investigation.
The vehicle is now sitting at MPI’s compound.
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