A photo of this truck, stolen near Leask. (Facebook)

By Nigel Maxwell

Rural Crime

Stolen semi-truck, loaded with canola, goes viral on social media

Apr 8, 2020 | 12:00 PM

The President of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalites (SARM) says a story about a stolen semi-truck loaded with canola, speaks to the level of crime happening in rural Saskatchewan.

Ray Orb was asked by paNOW to comment on the recent incident which happened at the Leask Hutterite Colony sometime overnight Saturday. The trailer was found the following day in the Lashburn area, and the truck was found in the Edmonton area.

“I just noticed in the news the other day, they had mentioned residential break-ins are down but [break-ins at ] businesses, especially businesses that have been shut down, are up,” Orb said.

Orb explained he thinks the truck theft was an isolated incident, as he has not heard any discussion from SARM members about any related incidents.

“It’s a little bit surprising that something like that would happen,” he said.

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A photo taken of the stolen truck parked in Edmonton. (Twitter)

The truck and trailer were located with the help of people sharing photos of the truck on social media. The initial post was shared 5,000 times. Orb said any type of communication between farmers can assist the police investigations.

“I think the reporting is better, however the RCMP or the municipal police force still have to be at the right place at the right time,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Agricultural Producers of Saskatchewan (APASS) agreed with Orb and said the incident heightens the importance of neighbours taking note of strange vehicles and checking in on each other. Nikko Snyder suggested the incident also highlights the importance of the recent RCMP community notification system and the need for rural residents to sign up for it.

A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan RCMP confirmed the truck theft is under investigation, and no charges have been laid at this time.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell