Two break-ins in the County of Stettler in the past week have resulted in multiple long-gun thefts, RCMP report.
The first theft was reported on Sept. 3, but happened some time earlier as the home owner had been away on vacation, RCMP Cpl. Ryan Koehli reported. The individual had a “gun room” in his home, which was kept locked, with the guns stored in a locked cabinet within.
“The door was smashed in and the cabinet pried open,” Koehli noted. “The good news is that the guns were recovered.”
Red Deer RCMP stopped a 37-year-old Red Deer man after a complaint and found him in his vehicle with the nine stolen guns, which were traced to the rural Botha break-in.
The man, whom police are not identifying, is being charged with nine counts of possession of a weapon obtained through crime as well as several breach of firearm prohibition conditions. Additional charges are pending against the man in an unrelated case.
On Sept. 5 in Gadsby, an individual or individuals, broke into a home and stole several guns and a safe. The home owner's vehicle, a Dodge truck, was also stolen and found north of town, burned out, Koehli said. The guns have not been recovered.
In this case, too, “everything was done properly” by the owner, who had locked up his firearms.
People need to lock up their weapons “to have a fighting chance” against thieves who break in, Koehli said. A lot of the cabinets, while meeting requirements, aren't the most secure and wouldn't withstand a determined effort with a crowbar. Investing in a good cabinet is important, as is bolting down smaller safes to prevent them from being carried away.
Koehli said the two thefts aren't the work of the individuals in the previous gun thefts, as they are still in custody, and were before the thefts occurred in these cases.
Koehli noted that some people have had late-night or early-morning visits from individuals looking to use the phone, purchase gas, or looking for vehicles for sale. He said that in today's world, where almost everyone has cell phones, there's usually very little need for people to come knocking on the door to say a vehicle's broken down, and there's need for a phone.
A suspicious visit like that in late August led to the arrests reported last week, Koehli noted.
“People know each other (in the rural areas),” he said. “Be on the look out for strangers at odd times.”
He noted that he believed the very rural areas have been a target because of the small population, but he's hoping someone saw something that will be reported and lead to an arrest.
“Don't worry about the time,” he said. “Just call us, or use Crime Stoppers.”
Other break-ins still happening
Over the night of Sept. 3-4, someone broke in to a location in Rochon Sands Provincial Park, stealing an undisclosed amount of money. No one was at the location at the time of the theft, but as the park has only one entrance and exit, police are hoping a witness may have seen someone lurking around the park and have information that may lead to an arrest.
On Labour Day, Monday Sept. 7, someone broke into a downtown Stettler home during the day. The break-and-enter was reported around 5 p.m., and happened earlier in the day when the home owner had stepped out.
According to Koehli, a window had been popped out, allowing the suspect or suspects entry, where they stole sports memorabilia, medicine, and money.
Slow long weekend
Police reported a well-behaved final long weekend of the summer, with no incidents happening at the park in the lake other than the one theft. Police stopped a vehicle that they noticed was swerving around 2 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5. The vehicle seemed to try to flee police for a moment before the driver thought better of it and stopped.
When the member approached the vehicle, a strong odour of marijuana was noticed.
In the end, the 19-year-old female passenger of the vehicle was arrested on an outstanding warrant, a 19-year-old male passenger was arrested on obstruction of a peace officer and possession of a prohibited substance, and the 22-year-old driver was not arrested. All three were from the Stettler area.