Mount Stewart woman turns amateur detective after home robbed, vandalized
Sally Pitt | CBC News | Posted: November 25, 2016 11:13 PM | Last Updated: November 25, 2016
Break-in, theft, vandalism costs Andrea McColl thousands of dollars
A woman in Mount Stewart, P.E.I., says a recent break-in cost her thousands of dollars and turned her into an amateur detective.
Andrea McColl and her husband are renovating their home.
Earlier this month, while they were away, someone removed the basement windows to gain access, and stole some new building materials, including new windows and a 12-inch mitre-saw.
"It really just took the wind out of our sails," said McColl. "It was really hard to come in and see all that."
Whoever broke in also removed new wiring from inside the walls and unplugged their sump pump, which caused their basement to flood.
I don't want to be victimized. - Andrea McColl
That set McColl on a mission to find her stolen property.
"I don't want to be victimized. And it's hard because because it's very distressing, and I've never been robbed before," she said.
"I didn't want to have to become an amateur detective. It's just emotionally and physically exhausting."
She posted flyers around the community.
She also went door-to-door, spreading the word with her neighbours, and was surprised to find out how many others had had similar experiences.
"When I started going around in my community and talking to people everyone has a story to tell about how they were robbed or something from their home was taken."
Tip pays off
McColl got a tip that someone had been trying to sell windows in her community.
She managed to track down the person who bought them, and they co-operated with the RCMP and returned the windows.
McColl also got a tip about her stolen saw, but she says when RCMP checked into it, they found out it was her neighbour's saw that was stolen a week earlier.
RCMP confirm they are investigating a number of thefts in Mount Stewart in recent weeks.
"We have arrested a suspect on that matter and I anticipate that charges will be laid in a number of the thefts in the very near future," said RCMP Sgt. Leanne Butler. "We feel that we do have those matters solved."
Butler urged Islanders to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.
Ask yourself, Is this something that is stolen? – RCMP Sgt. Leanne Butler
"It's important in matters that are in a small area that people look out for each other," she said. "So if people see something strange at their neighbours house or out of the ordinary, call the police we will make a patrol."
She also reminded Islanders to ask questions if they're thinking of buying items that seem to be going cheap.
"If you are making a purchase and it seems too good to be true, the price is way undercut of what it normally would be or if you're meeting somewhere in a parking lot to do a deal, you should always ask yourself, 'Is this something that is stolen?'"
Rallying community
McColl hopes to rally her neighbours to help prevent break-ins and vandalism in her community.
She's organizing a community meeting Tuesday evening in Mount Stewart to try to bring her neighbours together to prevent break-ins and vandalism.
She said she's buoyed by the offers of help she's received.
"I've had some really nice people call me up and say they're going to try to help me in the evening," she said. "That was very generous and lovely."
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