Homeowner follows thieves, honks horn to get attention of Salmon Arm RCMP

SALMON ARM – A Salmon Arm homeowner who watched a pair of thieves make off with his ATV took an unusual course of action — and it worked for him.

The man ran out of his house, jumped into his car and followed the thieves honking his horn in order to draw attention, Sgt. Scott West says in a media release.

Just after midnight on Jan. 25, the Salmon Arm RCMP responded to a report of a vehicle honking its horn repeatedly as it traveled the streets on the southeast side of the city.

Police attended the area and located the homeowner at Old Auto Road and 7 Avenue SE.

“He had been the one honking his horn to get people to call police,” West says.

The man told police what happened and pointed to a Mazda pickup truck and utility trailer sticking out of a snowbank at the edge of the road. He told to police that when he began following the two suspects, they sped away and eventually lost control of the compact truck and trailer due to road conditions.

“The suspects were last seen fleeing into a wooded area after abandoning their ill-gotten booty,” West says, adding officers were unable to locate them.

An investigation revealed the quad stolen from his yard had been loaded onto a stolen trailer which was being towed by a stolen pickup truck, both of which had also just been stolen.

“All three stolen items had been stolen from different people at separate locations around Salmon Arm,” West says.

The ATV and trailer were returned to their owners undamaged. The stolen truck did not fare so well after getting stuck in the snowbank.

“We recommend that you lock your cars and trucks, invest in a locking device for your trailers , lock up your ATVs and keep them out of sight. Doing any or all of these things makes it harder for thieves to target you or your property,” West says.

Anyone with information about these thefts is asked to contact the Salmon Arm RCMP at 250-832-6044 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 to report information anonymously.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.