The RCMP is warning the public around Hinton to take special care of their off-road vehicles after a rash of quad thefts have bedeviled the area.

“Certainly, someone is specifically targeting quads,” said S/Sgt. Blair McDonald of the Hinton RCMP. 

He said that over the past several weeks, there have been approximately four to five quads thefts around Hinton. ATV thefts are not unusual in the Hinton area, but S/Sgt. McDonald said the amount taken recently is out of the ordinary.

“It’s not that uncommon to have one every month or so, but to have this many stolen over several weeks, that is not as common,” said S/Sgt. McDonald.

The thief or thieves appear to be driving around Hinton in a vehicle large enough to transport an ATV. They spot quads that look like they could be stolen with little problem and under the cover of night, make their move. The quads appear to have been moved, not driven, away from the owner’s home before being loaded and driven away.

Sometime between the early morning hours of 11:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. on June 14 and June 15, a 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R quad (it retails for around $10,000) was stolen from a home on Lodgepole Drive, in Hinton’s Valley district. Police believe that the blue and white quad was dragged for some distance and then possibly loaded into a waiting vehicle.

One of the recent thefts is also related to the theft of a truck in Hinton. S/Sgt. McDonald said the truck thief was likely also the quad thief and probably only took the truck because it presented itself while quads were being targeted. 

S/Sgt. McDonald said the public should be wary right now about taking care of their off-road valuables (and any other valuables) on their property.

“Anything that makes it more difficult to steal the quad could be the difference between it being taken or not,” said S/Sgt. McDonald. He explained that the quads that were taken in recent weeks were all left in locations that were not secure.

“Some of the quads that you see around town here, parked in back alleys, out in the open with no one around, they’re easy targets,” he believes.

He said that securing a quad can take many forms.

The ideal is to lock the vehicle up inside a garage or other structure, said S/Sgt. McDonald, but, obviously, not all people can do this. He said that people could lock the ATV to a fixed object with a chain, place it inside a fenced off area, park a vehicle in front of it, or even remove a part of the quad’s mechanics so it looks like it can’t be started.

Anyone with information about stolen quads can contact the Hinton RCMP at 780-865-2455 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-422-8477.