91原创 City resident Alex Vail is speaking out about the Grinches who stole his 11-year-old鈥檚 Christmas.
On Nov. 19, around 2:30 a.m., two 91原创 men, who are known to police, are accused of breaking into Vail鈥檚 Mustang, which was parked outside his apartment.
In an attempt to steal the vehicle, the would-be-thieves did major damage to the ignition, cut the steering wheel column, the dash, tore out the alarm system and broke off the lock, among other things.
Luckily, someone witnessed the break-in and called police who arrived quickly enough to catch the criminals in the act.
鈥淭he male in the driver鈥檚 seat was arrested at the scene, but the passenger fled and was eventually arrested,鈥� said 91原创 RCMP Cpl. Holly Marks. The police dog unit helped out in the search.
Since then Jesse Moore, 23, and Dustyn Wald, 21, have been charged with theft and possession of break-in tools. Moore is also charged with giving police a false name. They are both back in court Dec. 6.
Vail鈥檚 Mustang was towed away to ICBC鈥檚 theft investigation lot.
Vail鈥檚 been without a car since that night, and that means he can鈥檛 work. Two weeks later, ICBC hasn鈥檛 told him when or if he鈥檒l get his car back.
鈥淓very day that passes is another day I cannot seek work. Generally the jobs I take (at warehouses) are either on Annacis Island or in Gloucester Estates, so I can鈥檛 take the bus,鈥� said Vail.
鈥淚 try to give my son a Christmas every year, just a small one, but now I鈥檓 panicking that I won鈥檛 be able to,鈥� he said.
鈥淢y son is my only family I have. This is so frustrating. I鈥檓 the victim of the crime but we are the ones being punished. I鈥檓 an honest guy who was living a normal life before this happened.鈥�
Even if he gets word that his Mustang is fixable, he will still have to pay the $300 deductible. It鈥檚 $300 he doesn鈥檛 have right now while no pay cheques come in.
On top of that, he just put $1,300 worth of work into the car, especially the brakes, to make sure it was drivable.
鈥淣o one is going to hire you if you don鈥檛 have reliable transportation.鈥�
