SASKATOON -- Ernie Collins and his wife, Lori, recall the night of a robbery at their farm, three kilometres southeast of Debden.

“I woke up to the phone ringing and it was 12:30 in the morning and it was my sister-in-law. She said that we were being broken into and there were probably people in our basement and to hide,” Lori said.

The robbery, which happened May 24, 2018, has left Ernie feeling unsafe in his yard and fields, a place where he’s lived his whole life.

“We’ve helped out everyone that’s come to our door day or night. We’ve never pushed anybody away and then you have stuff like this happen to you. And you wonder why, what did we do to deserve this,” Ernie said.

That night two people broke into their farm buildings and entered their house through the garage door and proceeded to the basement where they took the Collins’ hunting rifle and a .22 calibre gun. They were later convicted of the crime and are each serving a 33-month sentence.

Lori was sleeping upstairs - but Ernie saw what was happening as he returned from working in the field. He saw a strange black truck parked in the yard and all the lights off in the house.

He made a group phone call to his neighbours to ask if anyone knew where Lori was. He can be heard on the recording telling his sister-in-law to call the house. “Doreen phone the house, phone the house, Lori is in there, hurry up!”

He then rammed his truck into the robbers’ black Dodge truck as they tried to flee. The impact only damaged the tail light of the other vehicle so Ernie chased after them in his truck down the road and then across some fields.

“I’m chasing them,” Ernie says on the recording. “They’re shooting at me.”

“Ernie back off. Get out of there. Don’t get shot over this,” the neighbour said.

He returned to his farm after six shots were fired at him.

The Collins now make sure their house looks lived-in when they go away and said neighbours are always helping to watch each other’s properties.

“When we leave, I make sure the tablets are put away out phones are put away. We have the lights on, the TV on and we hide anything of value,” Lori said.

“We had an alarm at the time of the break but it wasn’t set as I was expecting Ernie to come home and fell asleep in the meantime.”

The damages, loss of property and additional security devices have cost the Collins about $17,000. SGI won’t cover the damage to Ernie’s truck, as insurance provides coverage for accidental loss, not damage resulting from an intentional act by the owner, the Crown says.

The local police detachment needs more resources, Ernie said.

“There’s too much crime. Our local detachment is overloaded. You can only be in so many places in a day and it’s more than they can handle.”

‘It makes you feel unsafe’

Rhonda Peterson farms and lives on Highway 55 in the Debden area and said her family has also been hit by property crime.

A truck was stolen when her husband and hired man parked it by the side of the road to fill up an air seeder. She found it two days later with tips from the public gathered on a Facebook post.

Despite a having a security alarm, their family’s cabin at Morin Lake was broke into on three separate occasions in the last two years.

The intruders wrote graffiti on the interior walls and stole items. There have been thefts from the Petersons’ yard and attempted thefts of gas.

“We got a security system - didn’t have one before at the farm now we do. Now, we have security cameras on the farm. Every time something happens you add to it,” Peterson said.

“It makes you feel unsafe. It’s definitely taken a toll on us and the neighbours. You are always wondering when you leave, what are you going to come home to.”