Stoney Creek motorhome’s theft stalled by social media

The suspects seem oblivious to the security camera - let alone their pending social-media celebrity - as they casually prepare to steal Mark Lunt's motorhome from the rear lot of his Garden Avenue business in lower Stoney Creek.

It's around 8 p.m. on July 18 - a Sunday - and a rotund, middle-aged man in a striped, lime-green golf shirt, black shorts and mauve flip-flops appears to direct a younger, thinner man in a black hoodie as they back a Ford Flex up to the motorhome's hitch.

A young, dark-haired woman in a black tank top and tights looks on, grinning widely while taking pictures on her phone.

Sparks can be seen as the hooded man grinds off a security ball and another part of the hitch. But he's interrupted by the arrival of a vehicle from a neighbouring business, and the trio leaves in the Flex.

Four hours later, the hooded man returns in a stolen U-Haul pickup truck and finishes the job.

Lunt said he ignored an alert on his mobile phone during the first theft attempt, thinking it was something mundane, but took notice of the one at midnight. Security footage confirmed his fears: the motorhome was gone.

Yet that's when the story takes an unexpected twist.

After notifying police, Lunt posted several images on Facebook and Instagram, attracting more than 40,000 views. By 5 p.m. on Monday (July 19), he received a Facebook message that someone in a U-Haul pickup truck was dropping off the motorhome in a parking lot at the corner of Mud Street and Second Road East.

An hour later, with police on hand, Lunt retrieved his motorhome. The damage was minimal beyond that to the hitch - a jimmied door lock and a crack to a board at the bottom of the bed inside.

The thieves also stole stupid stuff," like rubber boots, shoes and a raincoat, but left behind a TV, microwave and fridge.

Lunt said he and his wife use the motorhome for his Surf and Turf Instant Shelters business, and he suspects the thieves were unnerved by the social media attention.

I'm so thankful. I'm not typically a Facebook fan, but in this case, it worked for me," he said, adding he had insurance coverage but didn't want a replacement motorhome.

The trailer is only a couple of years old, so it's like brand-new, and I look after my stuff. That's why I wanted it back."

Garden Avenue is in an isolated industrial area near Grays Road and the South Service Road that has seen a spate of thefts, and Lunt said he wonders if someone noticed his motorhome while stealing a catalytic converter - valued for precious metals - a couple weeks earlier from neighbour 1-800-Got-Junk?

Troy Demers, the junk removal service's operations manager, said vandalism and thefts are becoming more frequent, requiring regular security patrols.

He said the theft of the catalytic converter - about $1,000 to replace, not enough for an insurance claim - could have been worse because several vehicles were parked there.

Demers said he doubts scrap dealers pay more than $50 for the converters.

That would be the easiest way to stop it: stop taking them," he said. It's all about the dollar and nothing else matters."

Thieves - one wearing a reflective construction vest - also broke into the work yard at nearby Phil Groves Sewer Service on Pinelands Avenue the early morning of July 19, but left after piling several tools over the fence.

They must have got spooked and that's why they took off," said Kim Rothwell, who works in the office, where the attempted theft was recorded by a security camera. I'm glad it didn't succeed."

Efforts to get a comment from Hamilton police were unsuccessful at deadline.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Mark Lunt contacted us seeking our help before he recovered his stolen motorhome.