Springhill, CAN - Thief Steals Police Car From Police Station - Found Submerged - Severely Damaged In Lake

Thieves steal police car, dump it in lake


 A Springhill police car went for an unwanted swim over the weekend after thieves stole it from behind the police station.

The car is severely damaged but Springhill Police Chief Gary Copeland said Monday it is too early to say it is a write off.

"It was mostly submerged when it was found," he said in a telephone interview. "Some of its glass was broken, as were its (emergency) lights, but there was no external damage to the body itself."

He didn’t want to speculate on the condition of the engine until a mechanic had given it a once-over.

An officer had parked the six-year-old car behind the station, which is inside the town hall, after a patrol early Saturday morning.

"The officer locked the car after he parked it and pocketed the keys," Chief Copeland said. "He went about his duties, but when he went back to the vehicle, it was gone.

"As far as I’m concerned, the officer did everything correctly. He locked the car and took the keys with him when he went to do his other duties. He followed procedure and can’t be faulted."

The chief didn’t say how much time had passed before the officer discovered the car was missing, but he said good police work resulted in the car being found two hours later, mostly submerged in Simpson Lake, near Collingwood.

Investigators are trying to determine how the thieves got into the vehicle and how they got the engine started, the chief said.

He said police have a "couple of suspects in mind" but declined to elaborate.

Like anyone who has had things stolen from them, officers feel violated, the chief said.

"This wasn’t just an attack against the local police department, it was an attack on the whole community, because it is the town residents’ taxes that paid for the vehicle," he said. "By stealing it, the thieves attacked the whole community."

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