Brantford woman still feeling uneasy following theft of husband’s truck

Dodge Ram pickup trucks have been the latest vehicle of choice during a string of recent thefts.

According to police, at least ten trucks from Guelph, three from Cambridge and four from Brantford have all been stolen since Nov. 25 and that includes the truck owned by Rachel Shepard and her husband.

“I was pretty upset,” said Shephard. “That’s my husband’s main work vehicle and it’s brand new.”

They’re not alone though, Shephard says she’s one of four families in their Brantford neighbourhood to have a new model Dodge Ram stolen over the span of a few hours.

Luckily for the Shephard family, they have a Ring doorbell and were able to get footage of the suspects. The video appears to show a man walk up and take a picture of the truck’s vehicle identification number. She said they came back a few hours later and stole the truck.

Police believe the recent truck thefts were all done using relay and reprogramming technology. This method allows thieves to enter and start a vehicle without keys.

According to Shephard, their truck was later located in the Ottawa area by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

Despite the happy ending though, Shephard said she still does not feel safe.

“I wish Dodge would come out with something and say we have a problem with security of the new trucks and would come out with a recall of the newer models to fix it,” she said.

The company has announced previous security enhancements for 2022 model-year vehicles using modern keyless entry in its Challenger and Charger cars, but hasn’t indicated if they’ll be brought over to its Ram line of trucks.