A few members of the community have rallied around a local man who had a $20,000 wood processor stolen last month. On October 15, Troy Dulmage realized that his wood processor had been taken in the night from where he stores it on his son’s farm on South Gower Drive, between Hess and Pelton Roads. Troy says his son was the last person to see it when he was out on the property late Saturday night. “Police said it looked like they knew what they were doing,” Troy says.
Troy’s son, Dan Dulmage, says that this isn’t the first time they’ve had a piece of large equipment stolen off their property. They had a solar-powered electric fencer stolen last summer, and a snowmobile was taken from their property on Christmas Eve last year.
“We were home, and someone just drove it off the property,” Dan says. “It’s very frustrating.”
In an effort to get the wood processor back and catch the person who stole it, Eric Monkman, Chuck Comeau, and Gary Bolton are offering a reward of $2,500 for the return of the equipment and arrest of the person or persons responsible. Eric says he believes that thefts like this are becoming more and more of an issue in the area.
“There is a local underground network of thieves and drug dealers,” he says. “Small thefts fuel the drug culture.”
According to the OPP, there has not been a rise in thefts or property crimes in North Grenville this year. That being said, it is possible that small thefts are still happening that go unreported. Troy agrees with Eric that it’s becoming more and more of a problem in the farming community. “It kind of makes you sick to think people are doing that,” he says.