YELLOWKNIFE - Equipped with bolt cutters, they creep under cover of darkness. Then, engines roaring, they rip away into the night before anyone notices.

They are the snowmobile thieves of Yellowknife. All arrested and charged so far this winter are under 18, and they are driving snowmobile owners and police mad.

Wayne Overbo created this snowmobile out of the leftover parts of its predecessor, which was badly damaged by thieves. - photo courtesy of Wayne Overbo

"From what I understand, it's just kids going out for joyrides," said Art Young, a salesperson at Polar Tech Rentals and Repairs. "They know they're not going to get into trouble with the law."

"I've heard there is a competition. Also a rumour that they're going to try to outdo what they did last year. I think they've already succeeded."

When asked, high school students agreed that rumours are flying about teens trying to outdo each other for the most snowmachines stolen.

"I've definitely heard that," said one 15-year-old high school girl, "but I don't know for sure."

Another girl, 17, said that youth are starting to feel the pressure - some of her friends have been questioned by police when transporting snowmobiles in their trucks.

"The cops are being suspicious," she said.

She said she hadn't heard of a competition, but hears stories of thefts regularly.

More than 60 snowmobiles have been stolen in Yellowknife since November. Police reported 12 stolen between Jan. 14-28 alone.

Last season, 63 snowmobiles were stolen from November to April.

In every file opened for a theft or attempted theft of a snowmobile this season, the accused has been a youth, said RCMP Const. Roxanne Dreilich. As well, they have all been male, with the exception of one female listed as an accomplice.

Dreilich said the RCMP are aware of rumours of a competition as well.

A youth charged with snowmobile theft had mentioned it in a statement, she said, though so far there has been no other evidence to support that claim.

Most stolen snowmobiles are recovered, said Dreilich.

Recovered in one sense of the word, but they still require recovery time, said Young.

"Absolutely, it's more of a problem (this year)," he said. "We've got four sleds right now that were stolen in for repairs. People are very frustrated about it."

He would know. Clients paying for repairs on their stolen and bashed-up machines are vocal, he said.

"They vent their frustrations," he said. "I hear everything."

Thieves can do a lot of damage.

"Most have either had the motor burned out of them or crashed into a tree," he said.

"The new trick this year is that if they can't steal it they take a knife and puncture your fuel line for you."

He said that leaves snowmobile owners needing to spend $500-$600 for repairs.

"When you have a $12,000 piece of property stolen and wrecked, typically your damage is going to be two, three, four thousand dollars," said Wayne Overbo of the Great Slave Snowmobile Association. "That really chafes."

People are getting particularly annoyed because it doesn't seem that anything is being done to punish the thieves, said Overbo.

Doug Witty, owner of Force One, said he estimates that so far this year snowmobile-stealing kids have done $500,000 worth of damage.

"For some reason the court system is not seeing that as significant enough to get them into young offender programs and off the streets," said Witty.

RCMP, however, are bound by the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), said Dreilich. The Act prohibits youth ages 12-17 from being charged on a first offence for minor crimes.

The first step is to "basically do nothing," said Dreilich. "It's a verbal warning."

After that comes a written warning, and only after the first two steps can police actually issue a charge, she said.

However, that doesn't mean that will stick.

"(A charge) can be vetoed, so to speak, by what's set out in the YCJA," said Dreilich.

Even if a charge makes it to court and the youth is convicted, when it comes to sentencing, the YCJA is again in control.

"You will often see judges having to follow those guidelines versus what they might do under the Criminal Code," said Dreilich.

That is all challenging enough, she said, but RCMP have to catch youth in the act - which isn't easy.

"The problem with snowmobiles is that once they're stolen they're taken off into a remote area pretty quickly and often it's in the dark," she said.

The RCMP do some snowmobile patrols, she said, but thefts happen so quickly it's very difficult to catch someone in the act.

Citizens on Patrol, a community policing group, is also on the lookout for snowmobile thefts, said Overbo, who is a member.

"We've had limited success, but we're trying," he said.

In the end, as Overbo puts it, "The police are doing all they can, but you can't do a lot to punish these folks."

There is concern that the perceived lack of punishment could lead to citizen vigilantism.

"My personal worry is that there's going to be an incident and I hope it doesn't come to that," said Overbo. "There is a lot of frustration in the community."

Witty said he is also worried about rising tensions in the community.

"There is no doubt in my mind that when they try to steal from the wrong person and get caught they're going to get hurt," said Witty.

There are steps people can take to keep their snowmachines safe. Locks often aren't enough, as many of the stolen sleds have been locked, according to Dreilich.

Young said owners should keep snowmachines close to the house so the engine can be heard when fired up.

Owners need a really thick chain or steel bar or a throttle lock, said Overbo.

He said the young thieves are often equipped with bolt cutters, rendering most locks useless.

"I tried a bunch and only one I could not snap with my own bolt cutters," said Overbo.