River Heights meat thieves use garbage bins to wheel away goods

Neighbours in River Heights discovered multiple thefts on April 23after thieves broke into a garage and a catering business vehicle overnight, then used a neighbouring home's garbage cart to wheel away the meat they stole.

Gary Powers, who own and operates Sis & Me Mobile Catering with his wife, Joyce, said break-ins in River Heights are common, he doesn't lock his car anymore.

"I have three vehicles on the street and I leave them open," Powers said.

They had approximately $1,500 worth of beef, drinks and other food stolen from their business, he said.

The Powers' garbage and recycling bins were untouched but MattMcMillan, who lives just a couple of doors down, is a frustrated by crime in the area after his bin was dumped and used for getaway transportation.

When the weather gets warmer, the mosquitoes come out and the vandals come out.- Matt McMillan, River Heights

"This is the joy of living in River Heights," McMillan said.

He and his wife have had their car windows smashed when their vehicles werebroken into and rifled through in the past.

"It's kind of par for the course. When the weather gets warmer, the mosquitoes come outand the vandals come out."

Whatangers McMillan even more than the robbery is that he's now on the hook to replace the bin at a cost of $61.

"I was exceptionally unimpressed that I was on the hook for this, especially considering these bins are essentially city property," he said.

"If they'd just destroyed the bin and left it on my property, I would have had a free bin well, not a free bin, but I would have had my bin replaced at no cost to me."

McMillan could claim the bin on his home insurance witha $500deductible.

He'd like city bylaws changed sostolen garbage and recycling bins are treated no differently from vandalized bins.

The city, in an effort to help cut down on the costs of lost andstolen carts hasequipped all garbage and recycling carts with RFID tags. The tags identify the binsto the residence where there were first assigned. If the city finds lost or stolen carts they willreturn them to their home or the homeowner will be reimbursed for the cost of the newcarts.