North Okanagan woman won’t do this again after her Hummer was stolen at the gym

VERNON – A North Okanagan woman will do things differently after discovering someone stole her keys from her coat pocket and made off with her Hummer — all while she was working out at the gym.

Ashley Campen, 19, was exercising at Snap Fitness on 25 Avenue in Vernon the evening of Jan. 31. When she went out the door around 11:30 p.m., her blue 2006 Hummer H3 was nowhere to be seen.

“I reached into my pocket and had no keys,” she says.

She thought her keys would be safe in the pocket of her coat, left hanging in the foyer of the gym. Police believe the culprit may have caught the door behind someone, or was let in, since the gym can only be accessed by members. 

Not only was Campen’s car gone, but also the wallet she left in it, and her two-year-old daughter’s car seat and new shoes.

“I was really shocked,” Campen says.

She filed a police report, cancelled all her credit cards, and gave up hope she’d ever get the car back.

Then, on Feb. 4, she got a call from North Vancouver police saying they’d found the Hummer and arrested a suspect.

“They said my wallet is gone, but the guy had my ID and my CareCard and my keys on him,” Campen says.

She’s expecting to get the Hummer back in the coming week, but was told by RCMP it’s not in the best shape anymore. 

“It was in great condition when it got stolen. I babied that Hummer. I owned it for only 21 weeks,” she says.

From now on, she says she’ll be making some changes to ensure something similar doesn’t happen again. For one thing, she won’t be leaving her wallet in the car anymore. And she’ll be keeping her car keys close by at the gym.

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.