The seemingly endless stream of car vandalism in Niagara-on-the-Lake continues and residents are urging police to do something. This time, multiple cars parked at the Pillar and Post Hotel & Spa were among those left damaged Monday, Feb. 24. In total, 10 vehicles were vandalized. And this isn’t the first time, general manager Ryan Murray told The Lake Report.
Pillar and Post, a property of Vintage Hotels, and Murray said each Vintage Hotel property has experienced vandalism in recent months.
“This is the second time at the Pillar but it has happened numerous times elsewhere through our properties and obviously throughout Niagara-on-the-Lake,” he said.
Guests have gone outside with the intention of driving home and found their windows smashed in, Murray said.
“It’s happened to locals but it’s also happening to people from Buffalo, from Toronto and from further. It’s -20 outside can’t get home,” he said.
Murray and staff at the hotel are in the process of gathering security footage to send to police.
“Police won’t even show up to a report if there isn’t video of it,” he said.
“There’s little to no response to something that’s dramatically affecting the residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake as well as our visitors who just aren’t going to come back.”
Murray would like to see an increased police presence in town along with a quicker response time, he said.
“Niagara-on-the-Lake is wonderful because it’s such a safe and sort of out of the way town, we don’t normally have issues like this,” he said.
“As such, we don’t have a lot of police presence because we don’t need it. However, we really do need it now.”
The string of vandalism seems like somebody has made note of NOTL’s low police presence and is taking advantage of it, Murray said.
Pillar and Post isn’t the only hotel that was hit Sunday either.
Hazel Viola, front desk attendant at the Oban Inn confirmed a car was vandalized at their property that evening too.
“It’s happened four times already,” she said in an interview, detailing vandalism occurring before New Year’s, on New Year’s Eve, on Feb. 14 and just last Sunday.
On Sunday evening, one car had windows smashed in but nothing was stolen. The car belonged to a police officer who was staying as a guest, Viola said.
Going forward, Viola would like to see more police patrolling, especially at night.
Employees who leave around 11 p.m. don’t see any police and don’t feel especially safe, she said.
“(We need) more patrolling, more awareness. We are the hospitality business and we see on Facebook there’s a conversation,” Viola said.
“We can see some of our guests join in the conversation who are victims of that incident and they don’t want to come back.”
Resident Karen Taylor-Jones had her car outright stolen on Sunday night.
Parked outside 300 Davy Street, Taylor-Jones’ 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee was missing for two nights before she noticed it gone.
“I parked it at about 4:30 or 5 o’clock on Sunday, locked it, went inside and went up and didn’t go out until this morning,” she said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
Two other vehicles in the parking lot were smashed in, but only Taylor-Jones’ was stolen, she said.
“You don’t know which direction to go because the police haven’t had time to look for it. I don’t even know what to do,” she said.
Taylor-Jones thinks whoever the perpetrator is has the operation well planned out, she said.
An increased police presence would help, Taylor-Jones said.
“We pay more taxes for the police in this whole region. We get two cars and everybody else has got the rest of them,” she said.
“And if you call them, it’s 20 minutes to half an hour before they get here.”
The Lake Report reached out to Niagara Regional Police in regard to Sunday night’s string of vandalisms.
Constable Luke Lindley confirmed uniform members responded to “approximately eight property damage related calls for service,” around at 8 a.m. on Monday.
Initial investigation research suggests several vehicle windows were smashed throughout the night.
The investigation is ongoing and officers continue to complete reports and gather evidence, Lindley said.
In a media release Monday, police confirmed past incidents have been reported across the region including in Grimsby, West Lincoln, Lincoln, Pelham, Wainfleet and Niagara-on-the-Lake, primarily in the early morning hours of Feb. 13.
More reports of car break ins were reported in the comment section of a post on Facebook group NOTL 4 All.
Officers are looking for video surveillance to help put together a solid timeline of events. Those with footage or recordings are asked to contact the lead investigator by calling 905-688-4111, option 3, extension 1009922.
Anonymous tips can be sent to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Julia Sacco is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at The Lake Report.