When all is said and done the Barrhead RCMP expect to lay in excess of 50 charges after they found countless stolen items ranging from drugs and firearms to watches, contact lenses, cell phones, clothing as well as a number of credit cards, passports and chequebooks, while executing a search warrant at a Barrhead residence Nov. 7.
That is what Sgt. Bob Dodds told the Barrhead Leader when he invited us to take a picture of a small portion of the items they confiscated.
Barrhead RCMP obtained the search warrant after arresting two suspects, a male and female, Nov. 6 who are believed to be connected to the break and enter and subsequent robbery of the Kinuso Mercantile, in Kinuso, earlier the same day.
“This is probably the largest number of items we have confiscated in my eight years in Barrhead,” he said. Dodds added so far most of the charges against the accused are for possession of stolen property.
Acting on gathered intelligence Dodds said at about 10 p.m. the RCMP went to a house on 53 Street to search for a woman wanted on outstanding warrants.
RCMP spoke to a male at the front door who confirmed two suspects were present at the house, who refused to surrender.
As part of this process police spotted a stolen truck parked in the driveway. Dodds said when they checked the truck to see if anyone was inside they spotted a number of firearms, which were later discovered to be from the Kinuso robbery.
Because the suspects were potentially armed the Emergency Response Team (ERT) and a dog handler was called in from Edmonton.
At the same time, RCMP went to neighbouring properties and told residents to hold and secure until the standoff was over.
Unfortunately because of a situation in Sherwood Park where two explosions at a community centre took place the ERT and dog team didn’t arrive until about 1:30 p.m.
“The funny thing is that we were loud-hailing them for more than two hours, saying this is the police, you are under arrest, come on out, and they wouldn’t even answer us,” he said. “But when the dog arrived and barks a couple of times, the surrendered immediately.”
Dodds noted due to the number of items confiscated it would take time to determine if they are linked to other criminal activity and that so far the investigation involved the Barrhead and Westlock Detachments, Westlock Traffic Services, Whitecourt General Investigation Section, Eastern Alberta Crime Reduction Unit, St. Paul Crime Reduction Unit. They have also consulted with the Edmonton RCMP’s major crimes unit.
He also said the investigation is in its primary phase and the names of the suspects would be released at a later date, but said these are examples of the travelling criminals [the accused are from outside the area] that are the cause of much of the thefts in rural areas.
Dodds also said it is a good example of the RCMP’s new rural crime strategy is working.
“The [provincial] government [in March] gave the RCMP $10 million for 39 officers [as well as 40 civilian members and 10 Crown prosecutors] for the crime reduction units for rural areas and these are the types of people this is intended for,” he said. “It is also an example of how hard our members work and how dedicated are. Every time I hear from someone the public that we are not doing anything, I get frustrated. By looking at this table you can see that isn’t true.”
