Gas Bandits Hit PG Non-Profit
Tim Bennett, executive director, Big Brothers Big Sisters Prince George – photo 250News
Prince George, B.C. – Thieves have once again targeted a Prince George non-profit agency.
Last night a staff member at Big Brothers Big Sisters witnessed a group of young men siphoning gas from a fleet of vehicles used to transport kids at around 9:15 p.m.
“She kind of startled them and they took off but this is one of a few incidents that has faced our office over the past few months,” says executive director Tim Bennett. “Over the summer our shed was broken into a few times and we’ve had a couple windows smashed, we’ve also had people break into the back yard by cutting the fence.”
Luckily, he says nothing of real value was taken. Bennett also notes the incidents strengthen his resolve to do the work he does.
“This just for me and I think for my team really just proves why we do what we do. We know that providing kids at a young age with a proactive mentor helps decrease these incidents of vandalism and theft and helps set kids up with the best opportunities for success,” says Bennett.
“For us the fence gets fixed, gas gets put back in the tanks – it’s really about providing that proof that we provide value to the community and we’re going to continue to ensure children in Prince George who need a mentor get a mentor.”
Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass says while not common, siphoning gas from vehicles is not unheard of.
“We don’t get very many reports of siphoned gas, sure it occurs from time to time but whether they even get reported to us I can’t possibly know but certainly it’s not that common but it’s not too much of a shocker to us too because we know it does happen.”
He adds the secluded location of the office on Kinsmen Place unfortunately makes it a target.
“There’s little chance of being detected. It’s not next to a residence. Industrial areas get hit the same way.”
Comments
Thieves are scum. Especially thieves who steal from kids.
a $12 locking gas cap would have prevented this.
And sometimes those $12 gas caps cost you a new gas tank when they puncture them to get the gas out.
how about laws in the country, that makes it punishable to steal.
Give the police and reason to arrest, detain and trial them. Give the Judges the power to punish thieves. As long as we have leaders like Trudeau who is soft hearted against criminals, we will never get law and order back into our land. He is just like his father, wants to be loved by everyone.,
…and how many years was Harper in office ? But this has only been a problem since Trudeau …..right , got it .
Harper had ample oportunity to fix all those problems during his decade 0f leadership. Actually he fixed zero, zilch and nada. Amazing he did not get another decade of not fixing.
Actually Harper tried several things to introduce minimum mandatory sentences, harsher penalties, give police more investigative power – all shot down by the Supreme Court of Canada as unconstitutional.
Justin Trudeau should he feel so inclined to try, will likely have a similar result.
Many of you miss the single most important point in the justice system problem – there isn’t enough jails to lock up everyone you’d have the judges lock up. And if we did build all those jails, you’d be whining about all the taxes you pay to support it. And some of those people that get locked up for petty crimes like this, would get out later as real criminals.
How bout somebody take the vehicle home instead of leaving it parked outside there… maybe security cameras ???
Well, strangely enough, if the employee takes the vehicle home, CRA assesses them a taxable benefit for the personal use of the charity vehicle. They do the same to businesses. They do not see taking a vehicle home to protect it as a legitimate business use – and the tax court has agreed with them.
Now, this is something Trudeau could fix with an amendment to the tax act, because it’s frustrating to business owners that their choice is to pay tax on something they don’t benefit from, or, leave the vehicle at the shop and hope it isn’t vandalized.
But commonsense and tax policy rarely dovetail.
Polar workers parking their vehicles up the Hart to catch the bus to work are getting their gas tanks drilled.
It sucks no more that it was done to a non-profit, than if it had happened to a guy with a 9-5 job.
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