RCMP warns against stopping car thieves after owners injured in incidents

Owners hanging from vehicles, smashing windows and being tossed to the side of the road make for a good action movie, but RCMP says they’d rather not see it play out in real life.

This spring there have been at least three cases of vehicle owners trying to thwart thieves, and RCMP says they would rather people just call the police rather than risk injury or worse.

“We always encourage the public to contact the police regarding any crime, whether it be stealing a vehicle from their property or otherwise, and let the police handle any interaction with suspects, ” Cpl. said Guillaume Tremblay.

He said it is better for the owner to get all possible information, such as clothing descriptions and other details about the thief, their direction of travel and behavior, whether they are wearing a mask or gloves, their size and their voice.

“If people take a minute, take a deep breath, and get that description, it’s better,” Tremblay said. “And if you have video surveillance, let us know as well.

On March 29, a Halifax County man looked out his window and saw two men trying to steal his pickup truck from his driveway in the middle of the afternoon.

He ran out of the house and jumped into the back of the truck as the thieves drove off. The owner made his way to the front of the truck’s back bed and smashed a window before getting into a fight with the thieves as the truck veered off the road, narrowly missing a pedestrian before crashing into the ditch.

The owner managed to stay in the truck when it crashed. The two suspects ran off, but were tracked down by police dogs and arrested.

On April 10, a Colchester County man noticed someone stealing his SUV from his driveway. He got into another vehicle and saw his down the road.

Police said at the time that both cars came to rest on the side of the road, with the owner’s second vehicle leading the way. There was a collision that rendered the Saturn inoperable and the owner got out of his vehicle to confront the person in the car.

However, as he got out, he was hit by a passing red car. He was not seriously injured, but the red car did not stop. Police do not know if the red car may be related to the theft and the driver of the stolen vehicle.

The owner of the Saturn was not seriously injured. He got up and went to the stolen car to try to get hold of the driver, but the occupant locked the door and wouldn’t get out until the police arrived and arrested him.

Just a few weeks later, on April 25, a man was stealing an SUV from a Digby County property when the owner confronted the thief. He managed to open the door of the vehicle, but was flung to the ground when the thief put him on the road and drove off. The owner suffered minor injuries.

“The risk is always very high when you come into contact with someone you don’t know who is actively stealing something from your property or a motor vehicle,” Tremblay said. “You don’t know if they have guns, you don’t know if they’re under the influence, so the risks from the strangers are way too great.”

And trying to jump onto or into a moving vehicle is just inherently dangerous, Tremblay said. “Any time a vehicle is moving, there is a high risk of getting into a dangerous situation and getting injured or worse. Definitely leave it to the police to track down the suspects.”

If someone has a second vehicle and has their stolen car in sight, they should follow from a distance and safely, he said.

“You can’t break a motor vehicle law or any other laws if you follow someone,” he said. “Make sure you follow the traffic rules and don’t speed or endanger others. If they run away, let them run away and give the vehicle and suspicious description and direction of travel to our agents and we will track them down.”

He said the three incidents in such a short period of time are unusual, and he is not aware of any trend showing increased interaction between suspect and thief.