DRUG ADDICTS DRIVING UP SURREY AUTO THEFT

The typical Surrey car thief has changed in the last nine years from a
young offender on a joyride to a 28-year-old drug addict with an average of
14 prior criminal convictions, a public forum was told last night.

More than 300 residents packed Surrey Arts Centre, only metres away from
where a stolen truck driver stuck a family Tuesday night, to hear about new
research on auto theft and discuss how to stop it.

Sarah Zapotichny, a researcher and daughter of New Westminster police chief
Lorne Zapotichny, was asked to spend six months researching Surrey's
staggeringly high auto-theft rate.

"The No. 1 reason why vehicles are stolen in Surrey today is to commit
other crimes," said Zapotichny.

Those "other crimes" include break and enter, transportation of stolen
goods, drug trafficking and weapons possession.

Zapotichny found that the typical Surrey auto thief is now a young adult
who often carries weapons, almost always is a drug addict, and 70 to 100
per cent of the time is addicted to methamphetamine.

Last year, Surrey had 8,042 auto thefts, topping the list of cities in the
English-speaking world.

The financial costs of auto theft nationwide is $900 million. Eighty-one
people were killed between 1999 and 2001 by stolen vehicles throughout Canada.

Darlene Foster, 58, a block-watch captain in Cedar Hills, said the forum
was overdue.

"Between Christmas and New Year's, a stolen car came around the corner and
ran right up into my fence and knocked it down," she said.