Manitoba

'It's odd': Police on lookout after 3 vehicles stolen from dealership showroom

Police are trying to track down a stolen car from a Winnipeg dealership after thieves drove off with three vehicles and abandoned two of them early Friday morning.

No suggestion of motive beyond 'pure joy' as yet: police

Police say an unknown number of people broke into a Winnipeg dealership and drove off with three vehicles from the showroom when the business was left unlocked overnight. (Getty Images)

Police are trying to track down a car stolen from a Winnipeg dealership after thieves drove off with three vehicles and abandoned two of them early Friday morning.

The theft happened overnight when the building was left unsecured, Const. Tammy Skrabek said at a media briefing.

Skrabek said it appeared the dealership in the 1700 block of Waverley Street was left unlocked.

On Friday afternoon, a co-owner of the business told CBC News that the dealership was locked, and showed signs of forced entry.  

Police are looking for a black 2017 Honda Civic two-door hatchback, similar to this four-door model. (nitinut380/Shutterstock)
 Three new vehicles were stolen. A 2017 Honda CRV and 2017 Honda Ridgeline were later recovered, both damaged, but a two-door, black 2017 Honda Civic hatchback still hasn't been found.

The other vehicles were recovered at 4:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. Friday morning, Skrabek said. One was found in a park just south of the city and the other was located by the Winnipeg Parking Authority in a St. Vital parking lot.

"There's been no arrests and I really couldn't tell you what their motive was for stealing new cars, damaging them and abandoning them, other than just pure joy," Skrabek said.

Skrabek said the initial call came from a security guard in the area who heard a noise that turned out to be the vehicles being driven around the dealership parking lot.

It's unclear how many people were involved or how long they spent inside the dealership, since no alarms were set off, she said.

Police have surveillance video that hasn't been reviewed yet, she said.

"It's odd. It's not a common incident that we see happen every day," she said.

"In this case, you know, I think we're all going to have to question how was the building left insecure, how did these people particularly know that those doors were left insecure, that they didn't cause any damage and managed to steal three vehicles?"

There was no damage to the building.

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