By Saki Kambe
A maroon 2009 Volvo XC70 Wagon was reported stolen sometime between Friday evening April 26 and Sunday afternoon April 28 from the campus main parking lot, in front of the Welding and Automotive Building, Building Q. The vehicle was recovered on Tuesday April 30, behind Safeway on South Lincoln Street and was found stripped of “engine and dash parts,” according to Port Angeles Police records.
The owner, Sheana Livingstone is a community member from Port Townsend. She is not a student, nor a faculty member at the college according to Marty Martinez, the Campus Safety Operations Manager.
Livingstone made an arrangement with an automotive shop for a repair, but they were unable to fix the vehicle, so the shop had parked the vehicle in the main parking lot on the evening of April 26. Livingstone originally had talked with a tow company to get the car picked up from the parking lot. However, she found another way to get the vehicle picked up, so she had the arrangement cancelled. When Livingstone arrived to the campus on Sunday afternoon, the car was gone according to Port Angeles Police records.
“Normally, the vehicle is locked behind a fence in the automotive program and secured, but because the college did not have anyone to meet her, she made arrangement to pick it up in the parking lot,” Martinez said.
She thought the tow company had picked it up, but then found out over the phone that they did not pick it up. After finding out, she contacted the Port Angeles Police Department, PAPD, to file a police report. The police then called Martinez to ask some questions, and an officer ended up deciding to call the tow truck company and find out if they picked it up.
After a while, the police department called Martinez back and said they recovered the missing vehicle.
According to the PAPD, there have been nine vehicle thefts at the college in the last 15 years. Brian Smith, the Chief of the PAPD said that the vehicle theft is quite rare in Port Angeles and at the college.
Martinez believes that there are some lessons from this theft. “The lesson is that the college isn’t immune to vehicle prowls or vehicle theft, that we all need to make sure we secure our items in your vehicle, and that we need to take valuables out of the vehicles.” Another lesson, Martinez said, is to not leave valuable documentation in vehicles to prevent identity theft.
“More importantly, no matter what, check the door handle after you leave and make sure you hear the beeping sound after the click, shut and lock,” Martinez said.
He encourages people not to leave their vehicle overnight in the parking lot because it’s vulnerable. “Campus safety works closely with the local law enforcement, and we’ve asked them to do more frequent patrols of our campus.”