The arrest of a Red Deer man in a stolen car on Sunday led police to recover a stolen truck that contained an airsoft rifle and BB gun.
Red Deer RCMP said on Sunday at about 4 p.m. officers responded to a report of a car stolen from West Park. The suspect fled when police tried to stop the car. Police did not pursue the car for public safety reasons, but tracked it from a distance. When male suspect parked and left the car, police arrested him after a brief foot chase through residential yards on 41st Street near 56th Avenue.
RCMP seized a stolen cheque, several sets of stolen keys and a stolen license plate. The keys led to the discovery of a nearby stolen pickup truck which RCMP also linked to the suspect. Inside the truck police found the airsoft rifle and a BB gun.
Further investigation by RCMP led to the suspect being charged on several files from March involving a stolen purse, the possession and use of stolen credit cards, and the theft of an iPad on May 3 from a cheque cashing business.
“This arrest illustrates the importance of the Pinpoint crime reduction strategies used every day by Red Deer RCMP as we target repeat offenders who are responsible for a large portion of the crime in our city,” said Red Deer RCMP Insp. Gerald Grobmeier.
“Property crimes in Red Deer have been slowly decreasing over the past six months, and we continue our focus on maintaining that downward trend by repeatedly putting these active offenders before the courts.”
Police said property crime fell during the last three months of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. Crime statistics for the first three months of 2018 showed property crime and persons crimes dropped significantly when compared to the same period in 2017.
A 30-year-old Red Deer man was charged with two counts of resisting a peace officer, six counts of possession of stolen property under $5,000, two counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, three counts of failing to comply with probation, two counts of possessing a firearm contrary to order, unauthorized possession of firearm in vehicle, two counts of using a stolen credit card, and theft under $5,000.
The man was also wanted on six warrants for mischief, theft under $5,000, two counts of failing to appear, and two counts of breach of probation.
He was remanded into custody to appear in Red Deer provincial court on Wednesday.