Calls Catch Criminals in St. Albert

RCMP Alberta - At approximately 3:20 a.m., on Friday, May 25, 2018, St. Albert RCMP received multiple calls in a short time period from the Grandin neighbourhood in St. Albert of suspects trying door handles on vehicles parked in a parking garage, suspects entering parked vehicles on the street and of a break in alarm being triggered at a residence. Descriptions of a suspect vehicle connected to these calls was provided as a dark grey 4 door hatchback car.

Immediate attendance to the area by RCMP, combined by information provided by residents, resulted in a grey 2013 Ford Focus car being located and stopped. This car was found to be stolen from Edmonton and the 3 occupants, a 20 year old man from Onoway, a 15 year old male youth from Edmonton and a 13 year old female youth from Edmonton were arrested.

While this matter is still under investigation, the 15 year old male youth from Edmonton has been charged with:

• Driving while disqualified
• Possession of stolen property over $5000
• 2 counts of Fail/ refuse to comply with an order under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

On June 5, 2018, The youth entered a plea of guilty to some of the charges and received the following sentence:

• Driving while disqualified - 5 days in gaol and a 1 year driving prohibition
• Fail/ refuse to comply with an order under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, - one charge was withdrawn by the Crown, while a sentence of 7 days in gaol was given to the other charge.

The charge of Possession of Stolen Property was set over for an entry of a plea in St. Albert Court on July 3, 2018. As the youth had already served time in custody, he has been released by the Court on Bail until his next court date. He has several conditions on that release including a curfew condition restricting his whereabouts between 10 pm and 7 am.

This incident speaks to the strength of the police and the community working together to stop criminals in their tracks. Using the information from the multiple calls from Grandin residents, three suspects were caught and any illegal activities that they are alleged to have been committing that night were stopped. Crime prevention is a shared responsibility. 

Members of the community are reminded of their role in preventing criminal activity:

o Lock up houses, sheds, vehicles and any other property that is easily accessible

o Never leave running vehicles unlocked. Nearly half of the vehicle thefts in Alberta over the past year have had the keys left inside

o Take photos and record serial numbers of property

o If you see or suspect suspicious activity notify police immediately

St. Albert RCMP is looking for your help on this crime. If you have any information about this or any crime, call the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers. At Crime Stoppers, you do not need to reveal your identity. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to Call Display, Call Trace or tape any phone calls. If your information leads to an arrest, you may qualify for a cash award up to $2,000.00. We want your tip, not your name. Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).