'It’s unfortunate': Vandals cut wires to window washer aerial lift truck

Men in Kilts owner Ben Snow, seen on May 2, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Men in Kilts owner Ben Snow is frustrated after discovering an aerial lift truck his window washing team had been using at a two-day job near downtown Windsor had been vandalized sometime overnight earlier this week.

Snow said the wires on the aerial truck had been cut and stripped of copper sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning near the Jackson Park overpass on Ouellette Avenue.

“Kind of puts a damper on the year,” said Snow, who noted the recent warm weather had been a boon to business. “It also puts a damper on next year because it's a trickle down effect where anything that happens to us, we can eat it, but insurance premiums are going to go up, right? Am I going to have to hire security next time I rent a lift and have to use it for a couple days? It's frustrating when something you know that you don't think should happen, does.”

Snow told CTV News it could cost upwards of $10,000 to make the necessary repairs.

Copper wires were stolen from aerial lift truck being used by the company Men in Kilts on April 29, 2024, in downtown Windsor. (Source: Ben Snow)

“I wish I would have taped 20 bucks to the lift and said take this as opposed to messing with it. It’s a safety tool using the lift, like, we can't be cutting wires. I don't know it's just, it's unfortunate,” he said.

Snow said he’s hopeful that recent announcements to revitalize downtown Windsor will prove beneficial, noting a police report had been filed.

“Now we just have to be a little bit more cautious, but I'm hoping that, you know, maybe those 12 officers might help out,” Snow explained. “I was a bylaw officer in Calgary. The city should look up the community standards bylaw in Calgary because downtown was clean.”

He continued, “Spring has sprung. This is one of the busiest times of year and to have that little hiccup is a little bit frustrating but now that the sun is out, birds are chirping, we’re rocking and rolling.”

Copper wires were stolen from aerial lift truck being used by the company Men in Kilts on April 29, 2024, in downtown Windsor. (Source: Ben Snow)