Vandalism victim speaks out
Trashed vehicle costs delivery driver his job
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, November 13, 2014
INUVIK
Another round of vehicle vandalism has a new Inuvik resident speaking out about the after-effects of the damage.
Rod McDonough said he just moved to Inuvik in July. He said he's been working as many as three jobs to make ends meet here, but he recently lost one of those jobs as a delivery driver at Tonimoe's Restaurant after its company vehicle was vandalized.
All of the windows in the highly-visible bright green car were broken with a baseball bat or some other blunt instrument about a month ago, he said. For a time he used his own vehicle to make deliveries before the restaurant pulled the plug on the service for the moment.
"I had been working there for about two months when it happened. Up until last week I used my own car for deliveries," he said Oct. 31.
"And I definitely can't afford to lose my vehicle. And you're supposed to have extra insurance, so my costs went up. My cost went right through the ceiling."
"I've lost my job at Tonimoe's because of this, but at least I was able to cover it for about a month," McDonough continued.
"I can tell you this had a severe impact on Tonimoe's, since a lot of people already thought it was closed."
Management at the restaurant will be changing hands next spring, he explained, and there's been a lot of rumour-mongering around Inuvik that it's being closed outright. Without the familiar vehicle around, more people thought it wasn't open.
A security camera captured the damage as it occurred, McDonough said, but the vandal couldn't be identified from it.
"It was impossible to tell who it was."
He's currently working for the Nova Inn and working one or two more jobs, he added.
McDonough was a bit reluctant to come forward with the story and possibly make himself a target, but he said he wanted the public to be aware of the unexpected after-effects of such petty crime.
The incident happened about two weeks before an unknown arsonist tried to torch three cars on Tununuk Place, near where McDonough lives.
Dave Malcolm, who lives on Tununuk Place near McDonough, is another victim of vehicle vandalism. He said someone damaged the door and front fender on his vehicle and scratched a window.
"They rammed a hole in the door. I've got duct-tape over it now, and bent the right rear fender. They also scratched the passenger window. I can't justify replacing it, because it's just scratched, but I'll have to get the damage fixed when I head south in January."
A week earlier someone had ripped the rear wiper off the car, Malcolm said.
"It's funny because I park right next to him and they didn't touch my car," said McDonough.
Julienne Lima, the manager of Tonimoe's, confirmed the damage and said the restaurant is not currently offering delivery services.
The owners are away on an extended trip, according to staff members, she said.
