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New lawyer for accused car thieves

The case against four people charged with the disappearance of about 30 vehicles from a car dealership took another twist on Wednesday.

The case against four people charged with the disappearance of about 30 vehicles from a car dealership took another twist on Wednesday.

The major curve, Red Deer provincial court heard, was the appointment of a new lawyer for an accused who faces more than 100 charges.

Calvin Robert Mirbach, 37, of Red Deer parted company with Red Deer lawyer Eron Doyle and now has hired Alex Pringle of Edmonton.

Mirbach has charges of fraud and theft and returns to court on April 15 with co-defendants to possibly set a date for a preliminary hearing.

That news also put a new spin on the case since the court had earlier heard that the Crown and defence lawyers were working toward resolving the charges without the need for trials.

Red Deer RCMP charged three people on Dec. 19, 2007, with several offences. A fourth person was charged later.

The thefts from Southside Chrysler in Red Deer all involved 2007 and 2008 motor vehicles and totalled several hundred thousand dollars.

The arrests were made after an allegation that a former employee wasn’t reporting all vehicle sales to the dealership.

Torrey Duane Werenka, 35, faces 49 theft and fraud charges while Daniel Descheneau, 38, and Sandra Chen both face 10 theft and fraud charges and five possession of stolen property offences each.

Also on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Peter McKenzie of Calgary said three people wanted to make an application to the court to get possession of $49,000 in cash seized by police during the arrests.

jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com