Fort Garry vehicle vandalism wave riles residents

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This article was published 04/02/2022 (1520 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fort Garry residents are frustrated — sick of cleaning up broken glass; tired of filing another insurance claim; fed up with seeing their vehicles vandalized.

The Winnipeg neighbourhood is experiencing a rash of such incidents, for about a month, one Hudson Street resident told the Free Press.

“It literally just looks like they are doing it for fun — there’s no reason for it,” said Stephanie Roldan-Gutierrez, 29.

The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed it’s logged a spate of vehicle vandalism, but had few other details to provide Friday. The major crimes unit is aware and actively investigating the matter, Const. Jay Murray said in an email.

“There are widespread reports in our west district area, and (we) are still accumulating reports due to the different ways damage can be reported (online, in-person, phone, etc),” Murray said.

“We do not have numbers to provide at this time, but we encourage anyone who has not yet made a report to do so.”

The driver’s side window of Roldan-Gutierrez’s vehicle was smashed overnight Thursday while it was parked near Clarence Avenue.

It was the first time her car was targeted, but one neighbour has had his windows smashed multiple times — most recently, the day after he had one replaced, she said. On Thursday morning, she noticed about eight vehicles vandalized on her street and nearby.

“We were all really angry about it because it has been going on for quite a while,” Roldan-Gutierrez said.

“It’s very frustrating to see this happening to my neighbours and everyone else… They may only have one vehicle, and they’re stuck with a broken window, they have to pay a deductible — having to do that every week.”

Roldan-Gutierrez said other streets in the neighbourhood have been targeted, too.

Residents in the neighbourhood, who’ve compiled home surveillance footage, think the culprits drive a dark, four-door sedan.

Sometimes, they have used a BB or pellet gun; other times, they have broken out the windows with a baton or other object. Usually, Roldan-Gutierrez said, the vandals come overnight Wednesday or Sunday.

The cars aren’t typically rifled through, nor do the suspects attempt to steal the vehicles, she said.

“I’ve talked to a bunch of the people around the neighbourhood and they really want the police to do something — I know it’s hard because they have so much going on — but even just patrol the area,” Roldan-Gutierrez said.

There’s talks of a scheduled neighbourhood watch — at least until someone is caught.

“A lot of us are trying to get together and have people drive around late at night just to keep an eye on the neighbourhood,” she said.

Manitoba Public Insurance doesn’t collect data by city neighbourhood, but has noted an increase in reported vandalism crimes, which includes glass claims, in Winnipeg this month, a spokeswoman said.

On Feb. 2, 2021, the Crown corporation received 35 vandalism claims; on the same day this year, it received 98.

On Feb. 3, 2021, it also received 35 claims; in 2022, it was 173.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera