| Snowmobiles>
Snowmobiles News Center > Thieving youths frustrate snowmobile owners
Thieving youths frustrate snowmobile owners
Click
here to see our selection of our Best Selling Snowmobile Gear.
CBC News
A Yellowknife snowmobile retailer and owner says the justice system
is making it too easy for teenage thieves to go out and steal again.
Doug Witty says it's frustrating to see the same people repeatedly
arrested for stealing snowmobiles before they even go to trial.
He's has had four snowmobiles stolen in the last three weeks, even
though they were locked up and chained.
He's frustrated that the thieves are so bold; even being arrested
doesn't stop them.
"They were arrested again this past weekend, as I understand
it, and they're continuing to reoffend," he says.
"They clearly have no respect for the community, for private
property, for themselves … and are on a downward spiral that's
going to take someone with them."
The recent arrests bring the total number of youth charged up to
10. For some of them, it was their second time being arrested and
charged in less than two weeks.
Witty says the thieves are causing thousands of dollars in damage
while they wait to go to trial.
"There's got to be a better solution than what we have right
now, because what we have right now is a group of youth that are
actually terrorizing the community, and the justice system is telling
us we can't do anything about it," he says.
RCMP Const. Colleen Werrell says there isn't much more the police
can do, besides trying to catch the youths and arrest them.
"With youth, it's more difficult to hold them in custody [than]
adults," he says. "Especially, even with adults, to hold
them in custody, a lot is taken into consideration and ultimately
it's up to the judge that we take them before whether they hold
them or release them."
Witty says teenagers who repeatedly commit crimes need some time
in jail to reflect on their actions.
He says he's also looking into whether the parents of teenage thieves
could be held responsible for their children's crimes.
http://www.cbc.ca/north/story/snowmobile-theft-21022006.html
Have an opinion about this article? Want to discuss it? Check out
our Snowmobile
Forum!
|
