A truck stolen from the Millarville area earlier this week has been recovered, but $172,000 worth of film equipment inside the truck has yet to be recovered.
A truck stolen from the Millarville area earlier this week has been recovered, but $172,000 worth of film equipment inside the truck has yet to be recovered.
Turner Valley RCMP received a complaint April 23 of a white 2009 Ford F350 Crew Cab stolen from a quonset the previous night at a property on 240 St. W, just north of Highway 549. The truck contained approximately $172,000 worth of cinematography equipment.
Turner Valley RCMP Cpl. Julie Lagrange said the keys were in the vehicle at the time of the theft.
“I really feel for those people,” she said. “They happened to have all their equipment in there because they were supposed to go filming the next day.”
Early in the morning on April 26, the truck was recovered in a parking lot in Calgary's northwest after someone called in reporting suspicous activity, said Lagrange. There was no damage to the vehicle, yet the equipment was no longer inside, she said.
An attempt of theft took place that same night on the same street, where culprit(s) entered a quonset and rummaged through a truck, Lagrange said. Nothing was stolen or damaged, she added.
“It's definitely related,” she said. “Thieves certainly tend to target secluded areas and secluded homes. Just make sure you secure your property. Don't leave the keys in the vehicle.”
Margot McMaster said the stolen camera equipment has been a devastating blow to herself and husband Doug Munro, who own HDTV Productions Inc.
McMaster said they had loaded the high-end equipment in the truck in preparation for an event in Banff on April 24 and 25.
The equipment included a Sony F55 camera, Fuginon Cabrio lens and Zeiss primes lens, among other equipment. She said the equipment is insured.
“We happened to have all of our good gear in the truck,” she said.
The quonset is located at the end of the property, so McMaster said the culprit(s) would have had to pass their home to steal the truck.
The overhead door of the quonset was open and the door to the building, which had been locked, had a scuff on it, McMaster said.
“I think they reefed on it and pushed it in,” she said. “The lock mechanism probably wasn't the best.”
The couple had to scramble to borrow and rent camera equipment to do the Banff shoot, McMaster said.
“We are self employed so if we don't have equipment we don't work,” she said. “We couldn't afford to lose the equipment and three days worth of work.”
McMaster said they never had an issue with theft in the 20 years they lived at the Millarville area home.
“I'm an optimistic person,” she said. “I have a lot of faith in mankind. I'm hoping this is a one-off and they won't do it again. It will pull our community of Millarville a little closer together as we are going to be more vigilant.”
Police are seeking public assistance in locating the equipment. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Turner Valley RCMP Detachment at 403-933-7227 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or www.tipsubmit.com
