UPDATE: Parking meters put out of commission; city assessing damage

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“On Monday March 9 at 5:45 a.m., police received a call from an alert citizen of a suspicious man in a hoodie breaking into parking meters on 33rd Street and attended but were unable to locate the suspect,” said Cpl. Tania Finn. “Later that afternoon around 5 p.m., police received another call of a man on a bike breaking into the meters but were unable to attend in time to locate him.”

Two people suspected of breaking into meters were arrested last month.

Finn added the crimes can occur relatively quickly as the thief can be in and out of a meter in the matter of minutes.

“We know that one individual can cause substantial damage to a number of machines in a very short time period. Unfortunately, it appears there are more than one thief targeting the meters here in Vernon.”

Finn stated no suspects have been identified in the latest string of thefts.

Anyone with information regarding the incidents is asked to contact the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP non-emergency line of 250-545-7171, or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, or leaving a tip online at www.nokscrimestoppers.com.

The City of Vernon said it’s assessing the damage.

“Costs for repairs are unknown at this time, but information is being gathered and staff will be reporting directly to council,” said Christy Poirier, communications manager.

“If motorists park at a broken meter, they are not required to pay at that location; however, motorists must still abide by the maximum allowable time limit. For example, if they park in a two-hour zone, they must vacate that location within two hours. Staff are still monitoring all areas and will be ticketing vehicles that exceed the maximum allowable time limit,” Poirier added.

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March 9

There has been more destruction of parking meters in Vernon.

More than two dozen of the meters have been vandalized on about three blocks of 28th Street in the downtown, some with the tops knocked clear-off.

There has been several other incidents of meter vandalism in the city over the last few years.

Police arrested a couple of suspects a few months ago in other cases.

Vernon Matters has reached out to the City of Vernon and RCMP for comment.