Contractors, police at odds in Newfoundland as search for 'backhoe bandits' continues

Photographer Marc Woodall supplied this image of the aftermath of an ATM theft from a bank in Carbonear, N.L., aided by stolen excavators, seen here in this photo from Thursday Jan. 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Marc Woodall

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — As the hunt for Newfoundland’s so-called “backhoe bandits” continues, some contractors are taking umbrage at calls from officials to better secure heavy equipment on job sites.

Robert Crowley said someone stole a $400,000 front-end loader from his construction site and used it to smash into a nearby bank in Holyrood, N.L., last month. However, he was incensed when the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary responded to another bank robbery this month — aided by a stolen excavator — by asking contractors to install more locks and alarms on their machinery.

“My machine was secured. My machine had the master key taken out of it and had the key taken out of it,” he said in a recent interview. “Why is it my expense? Why is it always the little guy’s expense?”

“They got let out of jail the same day,” he added about the perpetrators. “You don’t think there’s a problem there?”

Thieves in eastern Newfoundland have used stolen heavy equipment to smash into banks and steal ATMs at least four times since September. They’ve hit banks in Holyrood and Carbonear, two small communities within an hour’s drive from St. John’s, and two banks in the same neighbourhood in Mount Pearl, which is just beside the provincial capital.

Photographer Marc Woodall captured images of two abandoned excavators with their buckets raised toward a demolished drive-thru window at the Scotiabank in Carbonear. His photos were shared widely on social media, prompting comments about the “backhoe bandits.”

“Considering two excavators were used, the damage could have been far worse!” he said in a Facebook message to The Canadian Press.

RCMP arrested four people after the Holyrood robbery last month. One person was charged and the others were released without charges.

The force has asked people to be on the lookout for suspicious activity involving heavy equipment, such as backhoes cruising down the road at odd hours. Cpl. Jolene Garland, meanwhile, said the perpetrators will likely need more heavy equipment to crack open the stolen ATMs.

But last week, after the latest heavy equipment heist, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary turned its attention to the construction sites from which machinery is at risk of being stolen.

“The RNC is asking contractors to take steps to better secure their property and construction sites,” said a news release on Jan. 13. Police offered several suggestions, including immobilizers — devices that prevent an engine from starting without a coded key — and key management systems.

The robberies are crimes of opportunity, Const. James Cadigan said in a recent interview.

“It’s about measures that can be taken to deter this behaviour,” he said. “These pieces of equipment are left essentially accessible to any member of the public. And in these cases, perpetrators are taking control of them and committing a theft.”

It’s common practice at job sites in bigger provinces, such as Ontario, for heavy equipment to be loaded and chained onto the trailers that delivered them, said an eastern Newfoundland contractor who did not wish to be named because he feared his business would be targeted. As well, he said, Ontario contractors wouldn’t leave their equipment on site over the weekend — as is common in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Ten years ago, people in the province barely locked their cars or their front doors, the contractor added. But crime is changing, addictions and mental health problems seem to be increasing, and nobody can leave anything unlocked anymore, he said.

Contractors are busy and short-staffed, and can’t spare the time or personnel to drive the equipment back and forth from the job site, he added. Like Crowley, he said more policing and enforcement is needed to focus on thieves, not contractors

Dave Aker, the mayor of Mount Pearl, wondered if the provincial government could develop guidelines for securing equipment at construction sites, or offer incentives for companies to invest in trackers or consoles with passwords to start the machines.

“If we can put somebody on the moon, why can’t we slow down or stop an excavator from being a weapon?” Aker asked.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2025.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press