Some serious Bad Karma coming somebody’s way at Christmas

One wonders if this is how John Gotti got his start. Some rather daring local thieves have hit the Queen Charlottes Christmas plans rather hard. With a brazen hijacking of a local load of goods destined for the Charlottes.

It’s unknown if the gang hit the trucks in the Prince Rupert BC Ferry yard, onboard the ferry on the way to the Charlottes or when they sat overnight in the yard at Skidegate. The crime took place around December 15th, but was not discovered until the trailers were opened in Skidegate

The contents of the two trailers were rifled through, with UPS parcels cut open, waybills stolen and Sears totes opened and items taken out as though a shopping list had been compiled.

There’s no report on the value of the thefts as the shippers have yet to determine what is missing and damaged and what has been left intact. The Prince Rupert RCMP have been handed the file for investigation.

Heather Ramsey had the full details of the crime on the Queen Charlotte Islands Observer.

Merciless grinch steals presents
By Heather Ramsay—
Queen Charlotte Islands Observer
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

The grinch hit the islands without mercy on the weekend, making off with parcels full of clothing, jewellery, watches, perfume, cameras and more. Although no one is sure where the break-in occurred, either at the Prince Rupert ferry terminal, on the ferry itself or at Skidegate Landing, two Lindsay's trailers stuffed with Christmas cheer were pilfered and thieves made off with an unknown quantity of goods.

From the look of the totes received by Sears in Skidegate on Monday morning, the thieves had a shopping list, said George Westwood, who is one of Sears helper elves at this time of year. He said some things were taken, but other big ticket items like an electric guitar and several television sets were left alone. He said the value of goods missing is unknown, as the thieves took the waybills with them too.They are still waiting for a full manifest list from Sears Canada.

The two Lindsay's trailers sat overnight at the ferry terminal in Skidegate Landing after arriving on the ferry on Friday evening (Dec. 15). Ron Dallyn, the dispatcher for Lindsay's says he thinks it is more likely the break and enter took place on the islands than in Rupert or on the ferry.

He says Clearbrook Trucking has authority to open the trailers to retrieve goods destined for Sandspit. The employee who opened the trailer Friday night told Lindsay's the trailer did not look broken into at that time. But when Lindsay's drivers came down on Saturday morning, they discovered the trailers had been entered. Mr. Dallyn says the drivers found several UPS parcels cut open and rifled through, along with the vandalized Sears items and goods for other stores. The real shame, he says, is he can't deliver the parcels that were opened, but still contain goods, until after the investigation is complete.

All paperwork for the delivery manifests were gone as well, including those for the Sandspit delivery. The whole incident delayed Lindsay's delivery for four or five hours says Mr. Dallyn and continues to cause him headaches in trying to make a list of what was missing. Sergeant Neil Hogg of the Queen Charlotte RCMP detachment told the Observer that the file is being handled by the Prince Rupert police. Prince Rupert police were having difficulties with their computer networks and could not track down the file to provide any more details by the Observer's deadline Tuesday.