Several vehicles in Winnipeg’s St. Boniface neighbourhood fell victim to vandalism overnight, with many drivers waking up Monday morning to find their driver’s side mirrors were smashed to pieces or removed altogether.
“Just started driving and then I turned the corner, I looked at my mirror – oh, there’s no mirror,” said Matthew Kohli, one of the victims. “And then as we moved down the next block, we saw every single one of the mirrors on that street also smashed.”
Vandalized vehicles lined Eugenie and Horace streets, where one person said he saw the smashing spree suspect in action. CTV News is not identifying the witness because he said he’s concerned for his safety.
“I came out around 3:40 a.m. and I thought I heard gunshots coming around on that side of the road,” he said, pointing to an area on Horace Street. “I saw it was someone on a bike with a hood on.
“I just heard the smashing of the side mirrors so I figured it wasn’t a gunshot, but I wasn’t going to go and jump and try to stop him from breaking my car,” he continued.
According to Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), there have been 11,224 reported vandalism claims so far this year. Of those, 5,234 were about broken glass.
“I can’t specify right now how many vehicles were damaged,” said Const. Dani McKinnon with the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS). “And I would be inaccurate in saying how many reports we’ve received. It does sound like there was a number of vehicles damaged.”
WPS said it is aware of the damaged vehicles and is investigating the incidents. It encourages anyone who was impacted to file a police report online or call the non-emergency line.
“I do want to file a police report and go with the MPI because I don’t want to pay $400 because somebody else came by and smashed my mirror,” said Tyler Jon, who had his truck mirror smashed.
To help curb the crime, some residents recommend extra precautions be put in place.
“Nowadays, we live in a society where I feel like, you know, the more cameras, the better, the more alarms, the better,” Jon said.
Others suggested starting a neighbourhood watch.
While vandalism may be hard to prevent, it’s not deterring people from living in the neighbourhood.
“I do not feel unsafe,” said Kohli. “But you just know that there’s hooligans.”
Police said no arrests have been made as the investigation is still in its early stages.