Allyson Beauregard
TNO – The robberies that have plagued the Pontiac since before Christmas have continued well into the new year. After leaving their vehicles at mileage 40 along the Jim’s Lake Road, a group of snowmobilers returned three days later, February 2, to find all 5 of their vehicles vandalized.
Allyson Beauregard
TNO – The robberies that have plagued the Pontiac since before Christmas have continued well into the new year. After leaving their vehicles at mileage 40 along the Jim’s Lake Road, a group of snowmobilers returned three days later, February 2, to find all 5 of their vehicles vandalized.
A sharp object, which the victims believed was an axe, was used to rupture their gas tanks, and all of their fuel was drained. “We were able to fix two of the trucks with J.B Weld, but we had to call tow trucks for the remaining three. We were lucky we had a satellite phone to call for help because there is no cell phone service that far up the road,” explained one of the victims.
Because the Jim’s Lake Road is not plowed beyond mileage 40, anyone wishing to access lakes or camps beyond that point must park their vehicles and snowmobile in. “We left our vehicles on Thursday and returned Sunday to find out we were stranded,” said the source.
“They must of had something to catch the gas from the tanks, which they then poured into a larger container in their vehicle because there was over 600 litres of gas, totalling around $800, between the five vehicles,” said one victim. “We all had filled our tanks before going on the trip,” continued the source, explaining that a friend of his also suffered the same misfortune a week later, February 9, at the same location.
“It looks like this is going to be a re-occurring event until the police solve this dangerous crime. You can imagine it could become a life and death struggle if you were counting on your vehicle to get a sick or injured person to the hospital and you could not get them out of the bush due to this crime,” concluded the source.
