Auto Theft Happens

We live in a country where a vehicle is stolen every five minutes.  This epidemic is hitting hard, with full-size pick-up trucks being the most sought-after prize on thieving industry list in Alberta. Our federal government recently held a National Summit on Combatting Auto Thefts.

Stealing vehicles and fencing them abroad has unexpectedly become a source of income for individuals or groups of organized crime bandits. I noticed a few Facebook pages where the general public can post a photo and description of their stolen vehicles so others can be on the look out and report a sighting. I had my car stolen in 2003 – well before the statistics dramatically increased to what we see now. My car was a red, 2-door sportscar, stolen by a couple of young-folk, looking for a joyride. 
Unfortunately, I owned the most sought-after vehicle thieves of that day were on the hunt for. My car was found by local police about a week later, trashed, then left in a dead-end alley in a north flats neighbourhood. I drove a rental car for 2 weeks. My car was not drivable and was towed to the dealership garage. An appraisal on the damages were more than the car’s worth so my insurance company wrote it off. It went to the auto wreckers and I drove a loaned family vehicle until I purchased a new car in 2004. It was a huge inconvenience to go through this process, plus my insurance increased with no fault of my own.

I watched a Global Calgary news story early in the new year where a young lady was interviewed regarding her stolen license plate. I’m sure this might have been a news story on many occasions but I had my license plate stolen twice since 2020 with no media attention. In late March 2020, one evening I walked behind my car to take the trash to the bin and casually glanced at my license plate. I had the same plate since I purchased the car so it was quite the shock to see I had a different sequence of numbers and letters. I immediately checked my registration to compare digits and to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. I called the police station but being away from office hours and not being an emergency, I waited till the next morning to visit the detachment. I spent that whole evening incredibly stressed on when and/or how this happened, how many parking or speeding tickets may come in the mail as my name and address are attached to my license plate. When I visited the police station to report my missing license plate and the strange plate now attached to my car – it was another full exercise on inconvenience. Producing my drivers license, registration and a photo of the strange plate now on my car, I was told the strange plate must be seized by the authorities. Totally understandable, however; I had to drive to the station with this plate and in order to get a new plate, I would have to drive to a registry office. I asked the officer if I could drive without a license plate until I purchased a new one or if someone would drive me to get a new plate – if they needed the strange plate off my car at that moment. Unfortunately, I did not have an entourage accompany me to report the incident so I did not have any other way to get a new license plate. Being somewhat surprised by my query, the young officer agreed that I must use the strange license plate to drive to the registry to acquire a new one, then switch them out and bring in the strange license plate. I asked for the police report file number as I would need that information to get a new plate so then the paperwork began. I was given a “victim impact” statement form and I filled that out – front and back. (I am long winded when it comes to forms.) As he filled out his forms & I filled out mine, I finally left with what information I needed and proceeded to procure a new license plate. 

After waiting in line at the registry office for a new plate, the receptionist provided me with a screwdriver so I could remove the strange plate and attach the new one. Since my renewal was July, I paid the cost to renew my registration for the year and took the strange plate back to the police station. This process took over an hour of my time and many hours of lost sleep with the worry of not knowing if whomever has my stolen license plate accumulated speeding or parking tickets as I had no idea how long it was missing from my car. About a month after the theft, I got a call from the officer who attended to my dilemma. He let me know my license plate was found on a stolen car in Crowsnest Pass and the plate left on my car was from that stolen car. 

The full circle of vehicle theft and license plate theft came together and I was an innocent bystander in that crime. In August 2023, once again I noticed my license plate was not the same one, I had become accustomed to since the 2020 replacement. By this time, I found myself glancing at my license plate on a regular basis. When I saw the strange plate, I knew immediately my plate was taken from the south parking lot of our local casino. As it turned out, that evening it was stolen, I was a volunteer for a not-for-profit group working the 8pm-2am shift in the count room. I didn’t discover the strange plate till the next day as when I left the casino, it was very late and very dark as I walked towards the nose of my car and drove home. Being a Sunday, I could not report the theft until Monday morning. 

I went through all the same trials and tribulations I had experienced in my 2020 theft. This time when I was replacing my new license plate after taking off the strange plate, I was in the parking lot of the registry office when a truck pulled up beside me. The fellow driving the truck was ready to administer a citizen arrest as he assumed I was trying to steal the license plate off someone’s vehicle. We stood in that parking lot for a very long time as I explained myself, showed him the police report file number and assured him I was legit. Since I just renewed my registration a month prior, this new plate cost me $28.00 plus all the time and inconvenience. A week after this replacement, I received a call saying my license plate was found on a local vehicle, a very similar make and colour as mine. That driver did not know his/her license was stolen and replaced with mine until the police told them. I can only assume their plate was part of another vehicle theft with rotating stolen license plates as part of an auto theft ploy. 

I have come to the conclusion license plate theft and auto theft connected. I hope my victim experience has come to an end. I now ask you to be aware.