A Cochrane family was left shaken and “disappointed” after two thieves stole approximately $100 worth of empty bottles from their garage last week.
Nathan Wagman, 8, had been collecting bottles for the last half a year in an attempt to save money for summer vacation and to purchase a mini skateboard that he told his father he wanted to buy.
“He was quite upset,” Paul Wagman, Nathan’s father, said.
“He said he was disappointed and worried that the ‘bad guys’ came into the home. When it happens in your home it is quite intrusive.”
Paul was working in the garage in the afternoon last Tuesday when he had left the door open to go inside the family home. Nathan got off school and was home around 4 p.m. when the family had heard a noise outside around 4:15 p.m.
Paul said he went outside to see what was going on and he noticed a young male holding a case of empty bottles run toward a vehicle that was parked outside the family home.
The dad tried to chase after the thieves but said they got away, with the trunk barely able to close as a case of bottles fell out and smashed on the street.
“He started running and the driver barely waited for him to get in before they sped off,” Paul explained.
“It is incredibly bold, that kind of stuff happens in the city … we moved here because it is a small town and great place to raise kids. You don’t steal from your neighbours.”
The thieves were located shortly after the Wagman family reported the crime to the RCMP.
Sgt. Darlene White confirmed that two youths, a 16-year-old male from Mountain View County and a 17-year-old male from Cochrane were charged with break and entering and committing an indictable offence.
The two are scheduled to appear in Cochrane Provincial Court on July 19.
“I was surprised to find out they were from Cochrane,” Wagman said.
“When you are a victim of a crime it changes your perspective … we live here for the community values and we wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
While the thieves were located and charged, Wagman said the RCMP did not recover the empty bottles Nathan had been saving.
“Although a valuable life lesson for him, it is also an experience that should cause us to take a moment to reflect on our community impact and values as Cochranites,” Wagman said in an email to the Eagle.
“It is even more important for us to consider our community values and rather look out for each other as neighbours in Cochrane. We live here because of the quality of our town and community.”
Wagman encourages people in their communities to get together and carry on the tradition of looking out for each other and keeping that ‘small-town feel.’
“I think it is good for people to get to know their neighbours,” Wagman said.
“We have to watch out for our neighbours and our entire town and re-instill those community values.”
