anatomy of an auto theft or the end of the Astro van

It's not often that the local news crosses over into my independent alternative artist based life. Winnipeg has an auto theft problem, with underage kids learning the knowledge and skills to steal many types of vehicles. My van was targeted a couple of weeks ago.


They punched in the locking mechanism,


smashed the steering column to release the steering wheel lock and gain access to the wiring to hotwire the ignition,


got into an accident bending the rear bumper and twisting the body so the doors won't close,



and they had even stopped whatever activity they were up too while driving around to have sex.....twice.

Autopac(the insurance company) deemed it not worth repairing and wrote it off.

I have mixed thoughts about the whole thing.