‘It’s mind-boggling’: Gutters ripped from Winnipeg homes in broad daylight thefts

Winnipeg residents woke up dismayed and shocked after someone was caught on camera stealing downspouts from homes. CTV's Danton Unger reports.

Residents in Garden City have been left baffled after someone went through a back lane and ripped out as many downspouts as they could find.

Homeowner Harrison Mariano couldn’t believe what he was watching when he checked the security footage of his home Tuesday afternoon.

It happened earlier that day in broad daylight. A silver mini van pulls up and the driver gets out. They walk to a garage across the lane and rip off the downspouts, stuffing them into the van. The person is then seen walking towards Mariano’s home and does the same thing.

“This is stupid. This is ridiculous,” Mariano told CTV News. “It’s really sad when you think about it. Why a person could do that? It’s nothing. It’s nonsense.”

His wasn’t the only house hit.

Rick Moreira lives next door and said the exact same thing happened to him.

“I thought it was a prank or something, because I’ve never even heard of anything to such like,” he said. “I don’t even I have words, like, it’s mind-boggling why someone would want to take a downspout.”

A walk down this back lane revealed at least 10 other homes that appear to have fallen victim to this downspout thief. The damage varied. Some homes were simply missing the downspout extension. Others had the downspouts ripped right out of the wall.

Moreira believes whoever did this is collecting the aluminum to sell for scrap.

“I don’t understand the thought process of doing this,” he said. “Like, if you take 10, what are you getting out of 10 total downspouts?”

CTV News reached out to one scrap metal recycler in Winnipeg. The business said it buys scrap aluminum at a rate of 72 cents per pound. Other rates range anywhere from 70 cents to 80 cents per pound.

With a typical 10-foot length of downspout weighing less than two pounds, that would be worth a little more than a dollar in scrap.

Mariano said he’s heard other back lanes in his area have been hit and believes the same person is responsible. He’s reported the theft to police.

Winnipeg police confirmed a report had been made, but provided few details, saying simply, “It will be investigated.”

Mariano hopes police will be able to bring a stop to the downspout thievery and catch whoever is behind it all.

“This is just insane. They just don’t care,” he said.