Two burglars rammed a stolen truck into a car dealership and left town with a second truck worth $50,000.
On Thursday just before 4 a.m., two burglars were “burning rubber” to reverse a truck through a service bay door at Westview Ford, general manager Casey Van Ierland told the Record. His cameras captured the burglary.
Westview service manager Keith Davies suspects the thieves rammed the door in reverse to protect the truck’s engine.
The door caved in, said Van Ierland, and two masked burglars got out to search the shop for car keys. Within three minutes, one burglar drove away in a 2017 Ford F-150 that was parked in the service bay, and the other drove away in the vehicle used to ram the door after failing to find keys for another parked truck.
According to Courtenay Jiffy Lube owner Kevin Wilson, his truck was used for the ramming.
Wilson released video from his lube shop of a burglar stealing his truck 20 minutes before the ramming. He told the Record that RCMP confirmed it was his truck used in the Westview break and enter.
In Wilson’s video, a burglar is seen breaking in, finding keys, opening the garage door from the inside and driving away in the stolen vehicle. A second individual is also seen dropping off the burglar.
RCMP located both vehicles at a ferry terminal in Nanaimo, after getting GPS access to the 2017 F-150 from Westview Ford.
Van Ierland told the Record that the dealership is changing its policy to prevent future crime.
The Record has reached out to the RCMP for more information.
ALSO: Property crime in Courtenay’s downtown spiked in 2023 quarter
connor.mcdowell@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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