Security camera footage from Mark Klippenstein’s farm near MacGregor, Man. shows at least five people pulling up in a pickup truck early Sunday morning. They’re wearing masks, and at least two of them appear to be armed — one of them with a rifle.
“Then all of a sudden you started to see guns, and they started spreading out around the yard and then they entered the shop,” Klippenstein says. “And they were snooping around and all of a sudden you can see they started pointing their guns at the house, basically at the garage door.”
He says the figures aimed the weapons at the house when his cousin, who lives there, turned a light on. Klippenstein says the suspects ended up stealing several thousand dollars worth of tools.
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The property was just one of three targeted within a few hours, according to the RCMP. Dean Toews, who owns a farm about eight kilometres away, says he had tools and an ATV stolen.
When he saw the guns on his security footage, he says it took the threat “to another level.”
“When you know that there’s people out there [that] are willing to risk your life for taking property, it is unnerving,” he days.
No injuries were reported during any of the thefts. RCMP say the suspects also stole a 2010 Dodge pickup truck from one of the properties.
The Manitoba First Nations Police Service arrested a 17-year-old female from Sandy Bay First Nation after finding her in a vehicle that matched a description provided by RCMP. Police continue to look for the remaining suspects.
Both Klippenstein and Toews called the incidents alarming and frustrating and said it seems like there are few consequences for these sorts of thefts.
Kathy Valentino from the Association of Manitoba Municipalities says rural areas need a bigger police presence and tougher penalties, especially for repeat offenders.
“It’s more resources for police,” says Valentino. “More resources for the social and mental health work that they cannot continue to do, they need to be police. That should help have more police presence on the streets. And it’s the court systems, also.”
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