Kelligrews man offering reward to identify late night ‘visitors’
By Mark Squibb
When Robert Dawe’s motion sensor alerted him of movement in the front yard of his Kelliview Avenue home at 3 a.m. on the morning of June 28, he assumed it was the neighbor’s cat and went back to bed.
But when the CBS man looked at the footage later, he was surprised to see three young fellows sneaking around his yard.
“I studied the video a few times to try and figure out what they were doing,” said Dawe. “They weren’t delivering Girl Guide Cookies, I can tell you that. They were up to no good.”
The footage, which runs for about 10 seconds, shows what appears to be three young males approaching Dawe’s home. One of them, wielding his phone as a flashlight, notices the camera, and the three boys take off. One boy is dressed in pants and a hoodie, another in pants and a tee shirt, and the third in shorts and a tee shirt.
“Whatever game they’re playing, it’s a dangerous game to be playing,” said Dawe. “A lot of stuff can go wrong in a situation like that, when you step on another man’s property at 3 o’clock in the morning.”
Dawe reported the incident to the police and handed them a copy of the surveillance footage.
He said the boys returned again this Monday night.
“This seems to be an ongoing problem,” said Dawe. “We have these youngsters walking around at 2 and 3 and 4 o’clock in the morning, and I suppose they’ve got nothing to be at. But we have had a lot of issues here the last couple of years and it’s getting worse and worse.”
Dawe said he appreciates the work of RNC officers and public enforcement officers, but there simply aren’t enough of them for a town the size of CBS.
“Police are understaffed and underfunded,” said Dawe. “The community is growing larger and larger all the time, and I feel like police and town enforcement aren’t keeping up with it.”
Outside of speeding and improper ATV usage, he said, neighbors haven’t reported any instances of bad behavior on the usually quiet street located off Red Bridge Road.
Dawe said he is offering a $250 reward to anyone who can help the RNC identify the youths.
“This has got to come to a stop,” said Dawe. “When you step onto a man’s property at 3 o’clock in the morning and start looking through his windows and checking his doors, something could go wrong, really bad, really quick. These kids don’t realize that. These kids are 14, 15, 16 years old. They don’t know the danger they’re in, they’re just fooling around. But they’re going to push the wrong person and something bad is going to happen.”
Meanwhile, the RNC issued a home safety advisory last week, noting that historically, more break-and-enters are reported in June, July, and August than any other month.
Police recommend people lock all doors and windows, set security alarms properly, place valuables in a safe or safety deposit box (or at least remove items from plain view), leave spare keys with a trusted neighbor rather than outside your home, and be careful of leaving ladders and work tools outside, as these can be used to break into your home.
If you’re heading on vacation, police say never post on social media when you’ll be away from home, and if you have a garage, load your luggage into your vehicle inside the garage to avoid alerting folks that you’ll be away.
Police also say to give your home the appearance of being occupied while you’re away by leaving a light on and arranging with a neighbour to regularly check on your home, mow your lawn, move vehicles in the driveway and check your mail.