Phyllis Olenik remembers walking out of work about a year ago to see her car pulling out of the parking space she’d left it in.
The theft was how the White Rock resident discovered that the anti-theft club she’d been using on her 1992 Honda Accord was no longer working.
Replacing the club was an easy – and inexpensive – thing to do Wednesday, when White Rock RCMP Community Policing hosted a giveaway for residents who own vehicles pre-dating built-in immobilizers, or vehicles deemed at high-risk for theft.
Olenik was among several residents to take advantage of the opportunity.
One man came to get a club for a 1975 Ford F150 he is restoring. Another, Glen Jones, said he needed one for his 1997 Ford F150.
“My wife says I have a highly desirable vehicle,” Jones quipped when he arrived at the White Rock Community Centre, where the initiative was held.
No stranger to using anti-theft clubs, Jones said he needed one for his truck after switching the one he had over to his boat.
“It was highly desirable, too,” he said.
Crime prevention co-ordinator Julia Everett said nearly five dozen of the clubs were up for grabs, courtesy of ICBC.
The event was organized in response to an increase seen this year in the number of cars being stolen in White Rock – 48 were reported taken in the first nine months of 2015, including 14 in one month alone.