A catalytic converter has been stolen from a Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern BC van.
According to Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern BC Tim Bennett, they captured two people ‘hanging around’ the van on security footage just after 2:30 a.m. this morning. (Tuesday)
“We discovered early this morning, they had stolen the catalytic converter this morning,” Bennett said.
“This is the fourth time since Christmas that we have had the catalytic converters or significant vandalism to the vans.”
When it comes to vehicle vandalism, Bennett said it’s not just catalytic converter theft they’re dealing with.
“Earlier this year we had somebody attempt to hotwire one of the vehicles, causing significant electrical damage to the vehicles,” he said.
“We’ve also had instances where people, whether it’s breaking windows in the van, or trying to enter the van and wrecking the locks on the vehicle, those have really been the big instances in the last six months.”
Bennett said Big Brothers Big Sisters has implemented some mitigation strategies, such as extra security and cameras, but that hasn’t deterred the thefts.
“Unfortunately, people are creative and resourceful, and have found ways to still steal these catalytic converters.”
“We’re hearing from our colleagues in other organizations in the community, or other neighbours in and around our area, that this is not necessarily a stand alone issue for Big Brothers Big Sisters, but one the community at large is dealing with right now.”
Bennett said the van is used to transport children to attend their group programs, and is also used to provide a shuttle service to generate revenue.
“We don’t have the direct cost yet, as to what this is going to do, or our ability to utilize insurance,” Bennett said.
“Sometimes these things happen, we had a $5,000 budget this year to go towards this type of maintenance and prevention, not including the cost of things like security or camera installation.”
“We have already surpassed that $5,000 and are well over $10,000 in vehicle maintenance costs.”
Bennett added they are fortunate to have great support from the community, and have two big fundraisers going on with their Mega Bounce Run and ATV Raffle.
Staff were unfortunately greeted with frustrating news this morning to learn that once again our vans have been the target of theft and vandalism. We had a catalytic converter stolen around 2:30am. This is the 4th converter that has been stolen in the past 6 months. 1/ 🧵 pic.twitter.com/1laPUlKe3E
— Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern BC (@BIGSNBC) May 17, 2022