Visiting scooterist's truck stolen
By Mona Mattei
When Bill Luinetti took off on what he saw as a 10-day adventure across North America, he did not have any idea that his vacation would be cut short in Grand Forks after just one day. Luinetti left on his 2009 Yamaha Zuma from Vancouver for the Scooter Cannonball race, and did the route to Grand Forks on the first day – Sept. 10. Sometime overnight, his support vehicle, a Ford F350, was stolen from the parking lot of the Ramada essentially halting his trip. “My son was driving my support vehicle, that was what was stolen, and he had parked the support truck right in front of the Ramada Inn. We know from one woman who went out to the truck at about 2:00 a.m. to get a container of oil, and then I had gone out to look for some clothing at 6:30 a.m.,” explained Luinetti. “So it was between 2:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. when someone managed to steal the truck. It was parked right out under the Ramada Inn sign. It was really a brazen effort for someone to do that but nevertheless they did.” Luinetti contacted the RCMP within about 20 minutes of when they discovered the truck missing. By midday they got word from the RCMP that the truck had been found in Kelowna. The truck was distinctive in that it was new and had Tennessee plates on it. Luinetti and his son, Bill Luinetti Jr., went back and forth with the RCMP to determine how to move forward with their plans to either ship out the scooter from Spokane back home, or to head up to Kelowna to pick up their truck. Staff Sergeant Jim Harrison said that the truck was recovered and the Luinetti’s have been able to get their truck back this week. “The vehicle has been recovered in Kelowna on Sept. 11,” said Harrison. “The matter is still under investigation. Kelowna is looking at it and they were going to fingerprint the vehicle and see if they can come up with anything. The owner of the vehicle was notified that the vehicle was towed for secure storage. The only reason it was being held was for ident to inspect the vehicle and get fingerprints or evidence out of it that might help track down who took it.” Luinetti entered the Scooter Cannonball rally, a coast to coast endurance event for scooters up to 252cc. The race started in Vancouver, B.C. and ends in Portland, Maine, a route of over 3000 miles. The race is a time/distance/regularity rally where points are awarded based on miles completed and the ability to maintain the standard pace. The race had been organized since 2009 and a total of almost 30 scooterists and support vehicles stayed overnight at the Ramada on Friday.
