To the Editor,
On Dec. 1, I was getting cash from an ATM. Being of below-average size and disabled, and not as diligent as I should have been, I had not noticed a taller man behind me who probably saw me type in my PIN.
After putting my wallet in my backpack, I strapped it to the box on the back of my recumbent tricycle. I then rolled on slowly near Port Place, where I felt a tug on my trike. A man pulled on my pack, then ran. I turned around to see the wallet pocket opened and emptied. I took off after him, yelling, “Thief!”
In the time it took to get through the bank lineup, $200 had been taken from an ATM. I have since been compensated for that withdrawal, but I am out the $60 from my wallet.
I have been reminded of the importance of security when operating instant money machines in a rather brutal way. Sadly, security does not seem to be a big enough concern to some banks. In contrast, ATMs at banks along that street have shielding between machines or around the keypads.
In a separate story, but continuing the events, I rode to the RCMP station to make a report, then home to lock up my tricycle in my parking stall at my townhouse. The next time I went to take the trike out, I found that it had been vandalized and the pricey disc-brakes stolen, amounting to hundreds of dollars in repair and replacement.
It seems that crime in this city is much more rampant than I once thought. From now on, I, for one, will be more diligent.
Aragorn KlockarsNanaimo