if t } renee NINE VEHICLES stolen in the last 18 months has forced Terrace Totem Ford to become the first local car dealer- ship to lock up its lot. Owner Jake De Jong says it’s a step he didn’t want to take, because customers like to look at vehicles outside regular hours, But he said his losses in the last year and a half have ex- ceeded $150,000. “That's just too much moncy,”’ he says. Six vehicles stolen from the lot were found cither trashed or pattially stripped. Another three disappeared and -have never been recovered. -De Jong says it’s possible they've been taken to the U.S. or even shipped to Asia, He also suspects some are stripped down and sold for parts, Car thefts force lockup - Thieves also make off with parts off rigs — bumpers, | hoods, lights, stereos, De Jong says the vehicle of choice for thieves are loaded diesel supercab pickup trucks. “They go after the most expensive trucks we have,”’ he said. ‘'They’re always at Icast $40,000 vehicles.”’ Insurance costs rise with increased thefts, “The more it happens, the higher the deductibles get and the more money it costs us," he added. The dealership is now paying a 10 per cent deductible for its insurance, so a $40,000 truck stolen puts them out of pocket $4,000, De Jong says he’s so frustrated he even thinks about tak- ing the law into his own hands, ; “That’s a hell of a thing to have to say, but there you go,” he says. “‘It's just rampant here right now. The RCMP are doing the best that they can, but they can’t Keep up with it,” Other dealerships report ongoing vandalism, stereo thefts and occasional car thefis. : Terrace Chrysier lost a ’92 Dodge diesel pickup truck two weeks ago, says sales manager Bob Costain. He says diesel engines fetch at least $5,000 on the parts market. “If 1 had to bet, I'd say it’s being stripped down in the Terrace area right now,’” he said, A new pickup truck was also stolen from Thornhill Motors two months ago. ‘‘We’re thinking of fencing it in too,”’ said Thornhill Motors owner Leo De Jong. He said one dealer in Prince George erected a fence around his fot and most others have now followed suit or have plans to fence their lots, Jake De Jong said Totem Ford will open its gate Sundays to allaw weekend browsers another day to look at vehicles. “*We know it’s not necessarily going to keep everybody out,’’ he said of the fence. “If they want to get in badly enough, they’re going to gel in.”’ RCMP OFFICERS say stolen vehicles that don’t end up trashed by joyriders have likely been bagged by professionals — and won’t be seen again. Staff Sgt. Doug Wheler said ex- perienced car thieves often strip a vehicle right down and scll it for parts. Some find ways to ship stolen cars to Asia where they fetch big bucks, , _ And still others put false vehicle identification numbers on them, repaint or modify them and put them back on the road. said, ‘Unless something arouses Wheler said. year, The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 - A3 LOCKING UP: Jake De Jong says he's had ta take the extraordinary step of lock- ing up his car lot at night after an expensive string of car thefts. suspicion, some of these can be pretty bard to identify unless you take them off the road and go over them with a find toothed comb,” Slats show both thefis of vehicles aid thefts of items from vehicies have skyrocketed here over the last Car thefts to the end of October were 87 in Terrace and the rurai area — 42 per cent more than the 61 autos stolen in all of 1995, Most of those auto thefts would be allributable to joyriders, Wheler Around seven vehicles missing 10 Prices In effect until December t the end of Oclober have not been found, however, Thefts of items from cars were up even more, with 317 incidents reported to the end of October this year compared to 217 in all. of 1995, Although the numbers are up within cily limits as well, they're up most sharply outside of town. The number of-stolea cars and the number of -veliicle break-ins reported in Thornhill and surround- ing rural arcas have both more than doubled in the same period. 510” $44 & Mens LEVIS jeans Mens long sleeve Mens IKEDA - a 501, 516, 550, 505, 535 button front shirts Sweatshirts a | reg. to $62.00 Assorted Assorted styles | e maf. $ 99 ? CQ”: 2 Ov ¢ A9 REG. REG. S| fe Mens CALVIN Mens ‘JOE BOXER’ Mens 6 wale cord KLEIN jeans shorts pants by CURTIS Entire selection reg, to $19.99 reg, to $77.99 61 99 Ladies Sportswear By NON-FICTION 04, OFF 20% PRICE Ladies Cords Q/, OFF LO”: PRICE Mens & Ladles Sportswear by INDIAN MOTORCYCLE OA, OFF 20*2 PRICE Ladies Knit Tops By BASTILLE O/, OFF 20%: PRICE Ladies Dresses Of, OFF 20% PRICE Ladies Short Sleeve T-shirts Of OFF 20%: PRICE i) ° PRINCE RUPERT « TERRACE * i> SMITHERS + CAMPBELL RIVER ° Stolen car numbers soaring, RCMP say The rural area recorded 18 cars stolen in 1995, compared to 39 so far.in 1996, And vehicle break-ins have gone from. 40 in "95. to 92 so far this year -**There’s - been. areal raft. of them,”’ says Wheler, He said the holiday shopping sea- son is when drivers have to be par- ticularly careful about locking their Vehicles. oe eas He said any parcel or valuable, in sight makes a vehicle aii easy target” for a parking lot thief. . orc-sét PORTABLE CD PLAYER 3 Second digital anti-shock * Rechargeable battery operation capability © Dual L-biL DAGs © Bits Boost Reg, $249.00 eo 3nwx4 triply Bower» Full Electronics © TDE includ- Your Christmas donation guide The Salvation Army is once more looking for donations for its annual Christmas hamper pra- gram. The church puts together the hampers, with a turkey and fixings for a Christmas dinner, along around 500 of the hampers, and this year itll be distribuling them Dec, 16-20, 7 It’s a big job, and the Salvation Army is looking for about $20,000 for the hampers. Lietuenant Norm Hamelin asks .people.to.be generous when they see volunteers with the familiar red kettles, . wk kk If you'd like to contribute a gift to those Salva- tion Army hampers then you can drop one off. at Skeena Broadcasters’ office, on the comer of Lazelle and Emerson, oo The Salvation Army is looking for gifts for chil- dren ranging from newborn to about 16 years old, Toys and gifts should be new and unwrapped. Particularly in demand are gifts for young teens. The church usually has a surplus of toys for those aged 4-6, - Please drop gifts off by Dec, 13. However, the Salvation Army usually gels last-minute requests from parents, so gifts dropped off later on will still find homes, if not this year, then next Christmas. ; ok kkk The Terrace Anti-Poverty Group is also delivering toys for children again this year, Families who think they'll need help bringing Christmas to their kids have until December 13 to register with Terrace Anti-Poverty, upstairs in room 200 in the Tillicum Twin Theatre building. There is no age cut-off. **You can't give a gift to a 10-year-old and give nothing lo his 17-year-old sibling,’” says organizer Helga Kenny. She's expecting ahout 500 names lo come in. In- formation is kept confidential, and a tag with the child’s age, gender and size is placed on Christ- mas Irees in Kmart and Terrace Co-op, The public is invited to drop by any time to pick up a tag. Gifts can be purchased from any store and they should be. placed unwrapped, with the tag, back under the tree. Dec. 18 is the cut off date for bringing a gift back. Kenny and other staff and voluntcers will be delivering them from Dec. 19-25. Kenny is worricd about the economic situation in Terrace this year. She hopes people will still be able to chip in and buy presents, even though moncy is tight for many. tok ok kok The Terrace Child Development Centre's Christmas Tree of Lights is plugged in at the Skeena Mall. The public and local businesses are invited to individuals and $10-100 for businesses. _ All proceeds go toward providing therapy an services ta children with special needs. with: presents for children, It usually hands out. buy.a light for the tree. 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