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If you’ve ever left your vehicle running to “warm-up,” Surrey RCMP have a cautionary tale for you.

Mounties say two vehicles were stolen in back-to-back incidents in Whalley after their owners left them unattended and running Thursday morning.

Police got the first call around 8 a.m. in the 13800 block of Grosvenor Road, where the owner of a Ford Explorer had left the vehicle running with the keys in the ignition.

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Not long afterward, the thief abandoned the vehicle in the driveway of a home on Howey Road, where they apparently exchanged it for another vehicle that had also been left running to “warm-up” — this time a Volvo.

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Police caught up with that vehicle not far away, where they arrested a 35-year-old Surrey man who remains in custody pending a court appearance.

RCMP are reminding the public never to leave their vehicles running and unattended, noting it takes just seconds to steal a car that has the keys in the ignition.