Gwendolyn Gervacio's car is parked outside her apartment now, but a month ago it was stolen during a violent incident.
Her husband was carjacked on his way to an appointment outside Seven Oaks Hospital.
"He got punches, and after that he got thrown out from the car and then he took my car,” said Gwendolyn Gervacio.
The carjacking happened over the noon hour.
"Of all people, my husband is sick, and of all places it happened in a hospital and of all time the middle of the day,” said Gervacio.
In the last four weeks there have been at least four more reported incidents, spanning the city during various times of the day.
New numbers from the Winnipeg Police Service show carjackings are on the rise year over year:
- 2013 – 27
- 2014 – 28
- 2015 – 43
- 2016 – 45
- 2017 – 61
"This is a crime of opportunity, a crime that a very desperate person often commits, they're walking past they see a vehicle that they can quickly move around the city and they can use it to commit crimes," said Winnipeg police Const. Jay Murray
Murray says the increase is likely linked to a specific drug.
"It's alarming and I think we can compare these numbers to the rise of methamphetamine here in the City of Winnipeg," said Murray
Criminologist Frank Cormier says many recent carjackings could very well be tied to meth use, as they have the hallmarks of someone acting irrational and erratic.
And both police and Cormier say because of immobilizers, vehicles are harder to steal now, most thieves need the keys in hand.
"The fact that cars are more difficult to steal while they're unoccupied could be leading to an overall increase in carjacking and then compound that with the fact that someone who is high on methamphetamine is probably not going to have the skills and the dexterity needed to try to steal a car,” said Cormier.
All of this worries Gwendolyn Gervacio.
"Look what happened to my husband right now, because those people under those kind of meth are dangerous people they can harm you,” said Gervacio.
