This past Saturday, Loveleen Singh was heading back to her car around 7 p.m. after a day shift at West Edmonton Mall. Upon reaching her vehicle, she was shocked to find that all four of her new Bridgestone winter tires and Honda alloy rims were gone off her Honda Civic. The vehicle was left perched on four mismatched, older tires including one without a rim. “I freaked out. I was so shocked and traumatized,” said Singh. She arrived at the mall around 9:45 a.m. and went back to her car around 7 p.m. meaning the theft happened sometime on Saturday morning or afternoon.
”It’s very common,” said Michael Bauman, the owner of Mike the Mechanic repair shop in Edmonton. Many thieves are apparently stealing tires and rims to post on Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, and other listing sites. They look for tires that are new or in great condition and take the them right off, often damaging the vehicles in the process. Bauman stated that lug nut locks will deter people from nabbing tires. “It’ll make their job a little more difficult. It’ll definitely deter them for sure.”
