Opal, a nine-month-old Australian Shepherd puppy, has been reunited with her Cobourg owners after police recovered their stolen pick-up truck and charged a 31-year-old Clarington woman with theft.
Gavin Bergsma and his wife Claudia Woodruff had been frantically searching for Opal since last Wednesday morning (August 11), after the couple’s 2015 Dodge Ram pick-up truck was stolen in Durham Region.
Bergsma had parked his truck on Simcoe Street, near the intersection of Scugog Line 3 just south of Port Perry, to check on a well’s water level as part of his job. Opal was in the truck and, because temperatures were in the 30s, Bergsma left the engine running with the air conditioning on.
As he walked about 30 feet into a bush area, he noticed someone approaching on a bicycle but didn’t give it any thought. However, after he emerged from the bush, he saw the cyclist steal his truck with Opal still inside.
After reporting the theft, Bergsma and Woodruff searched the area and started posting flyers in Port Perry and Oshawa the following day. Durham police posted about the theft of Opal and the truck on social media and sent a detailed bulletin to neighbouring police services. Lost animal search group Team Chelsea also shared the incident.
Police received multiple leads from the public, including one tip that the stolen vehicle and a potential suspect had been seen in the town of Gooderham in Highlands East in Haliburton County.
Officers from the Haliburton Highlands OPP responded to the lead on Monday (August 16) and located the stolen truck and Opal.
As a result of the investigation, police have charged Kaila Grech, 31, of Clarington with two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.
She was held in custody pending a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday (August 17).
