Three shotguns and close to $4,000 in counterfeit Canadian bills were seized after Red Deer RCMP located a stolen vehicle that fled police on several occasions and had been involved in numerous crimes.
Police said they located a stolen car at an apartment in Johnstone Crossing. The driver surrendered to police after he collided with a nearby parked, unoccupied vehicle while trying to flee.
Meanwhile, other officers pursued a man and a woman into the apartment building after they were seen running from the vehicle.
RCMP did not locate the two passengers but seized a shotgun abandoned in the stairwell.
Police recovered two shotguns from the car, one loaded, and numerous rounds of ammunition. They also seized 37 counterfeit Canadian $100 bills and 12 counterfeit Canadian $20 bills from the car.
Police said the money looked like Canadian polymer bills but was printed on paper and each bill had Chinese characters printed on it. Similar bills have been seized by numerous police departments across Canada in recent months, but this is the first seizure in Red Deer. The $20 bills in Red Deer had pink Chinese characters and the $100 bills had white characters.
The car was reported stolen out of Red Deer on Sept. 24 which was then involved in numerous criminal offences in Central Alberta including:
- Four gas and dash incidents in which the driver was a woman.
- Two incidents in which police located the stolen vehicle but it fled at high speeds and police didn’t pursue for public safety reasons.
- A shoplifting incident in which a man and woman fled a store with approximately $500 worth of items and drove away in the suspect car.
- A public report of dangerous driving in which the car was occupied by two men.
A 25-year-old Red Deer man will face a number of criminal charges including weapons charges, flight from police, and possession of stolen property.
Police continue to investigate. Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to contact Red Deer RCMP at 403-343-5575. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or report it online at www.tipsubmit.com. If information leads to an arrest there could be a cash reward up to $2,000.