'You just have to laugh': Winnipeg woman's car stolen, recovered and then stolen again
A Winnipeg woman said she can only laugh at her bad luck after her car was stolen in November, recovered – and then it was stolen again.
"This is the funniest thing that's ever happened and the most Winnipeg thing ever," Alana Schlichting told CTV News.
It all started at the salon on St. Anne's Road where Schlichting works. She said in November, a man walked in the back door, grabbed her car keys from her jacket she had left in a back room, and then took off.
She chased the man down the street as he got in her car and drove away.
"I called 911 immediately," Schlichting said. "I was like, 'Oh, my car's been stolen.' They're like, 'When?' I go, 'Right now, I'm watching him drive down St. Anne's.'"
Schlichting said her car was recovered later that night with minor damage just a few blocks away, but that wasn't the end of the story.
Due to MPI backlogs, Schlichting had to wait weeks to get her car back from a shop on Pembina. When she was finally able to pick it up in February, she got some unbelievable news.
"The shop was broken into… and guess whose car they stole," Schlichting said.
Winnipeg police told CTV News no arrests have been made in the first theft. Police arrested one adult in connection with the second, but no charges have been laid at this point.
Police said there does not appear to be a link between the two thefts.
"Winnipeg man, like where else would this happen," Schlichting said in a video she posted on TikTok.
She said after posting the video, comments started streaming in and Schlichting realized she wasn't the only one this has happened to.
"I think it's the funniest thing that's ever happened to me. And apparently, it's happened to other people," she said. "Someone saw it and (said) like, 'This just happened to my brother, like the same thing.'"
Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) told CTV News so far in 2024, there have been more than 750 stolen vehicles reported. Last year, MPI received 3,339 stolen vehicle claims.
Schlichting said she's never had anything like this happen to her before.
"I've had my car window smashed, but no, never stolen," she said. "Now I've gotten it twice in a few months. I think I'm good. I think I'm in the clear now."
Still, she doesn't plan on leaving things up to chance. Schlichting said she is making some changes, like keeping her car keys close by instead of leaving them in her jacket pocket.
"At this point, you just have to laugh and hope for the best."
Schlichting has since got her car back for the second time, but after two car thefts, she said she’s planning on selling it.
"I think the universe doesn't even want me to have it at this point."
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