A truck that was stolen from Westlock was located in Athabasca on May 16, and the two occupants were arrested.
Athabasca RCMP were advised of two suspicious males at a local business. An employee took down the license number and provided it to the RCMP.
“Police queries were conducted on the license plate and it was revealed that the vehicle was recently stolen,” Cpl. Rick Dozois said. “Athabasca RCMP began a search of the town and found the vehicle parked on a side street a few blocks from the downtown core.”
RCMP saw the vehicle was unattended and watched the vehicle from a distance.
“After waiting approximately 5–10 minutes, two males returned with shopping bags, and both got into the truck,” he explained. “When the waiting officer observed this, he immediately approached and arrested the two subjects.”
Clinton Wade Galliford, 34, and Dari James Westby, 45, were arrested for possession of stolen property over $5,000 and other related charges.
Both males are known to police and have extensive criminal records.
On May 21, one or more people broke into the portable office at Athabasca University between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
The RCMP are seeking the public’s assistance in solving this case of break-and-enter.
Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact the Athabasca RCMP at 780-675-4252 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
On May 19 around 3 p.m., RCMP witnessed a van towing a canoe on a trailer south of Athabasca on Highway 2. The canoe had partially slid off the trailer and was being dragged down the highway.
RCMP stopped the van and arrested the driver for driving while impaired. The 60-year-old male from Edmonton will appear in Athabasca Provincial Court on July 14.
Almost at the moment of arrest, a complaint was received of a motor vehicle accident involving another canoe. The canoe had fallen off the trailer about three kilometres earlier, but the driver had not noticed.
Complaints of an erratic driver on May 18 led to an Edmonton man being charged with obstruction of justice and driving a motor vehicle while disqualified.
When RCMP pulled over Sammy Cardinal, 39, at around 12:30 p.m. that Sunday, he could not produce any identification and verbally identified himself. However, police determined he had provided a false name and birthdate.
Cardinal also had 11 outstanding warrants for his arrest for numerous offences; police have remanded him into custody, and he appeared in Athabasca Provincial Court on Monday.
Sgt. Brian Scott of the Athabasca RCMP says the detachment is awaiting Fish & Wildlife’s report on an allegation of a bear attack that Fish & Wildlife believes to be untrue before the RCMP make a decision on launching an investigation of their own.
Although the Fish & Wildlife investigation into an alleged bear attack in Calling Lake on May 16 is ongoing, investigators have concluded there was no bear attack.
Darcy Boucher, Fish & Wildlife inspector for the region, said there was no bear DNA on articles of clothing taken from the man who said he had been attacked.
Justin Gambler, 22, claimed he was attacked by a bear while quadding near his father’s cabin late on May 16.
Gambler was airlifted by STARS to Edmonton for treatment that evening, but Boucher did not comment on what may have caused the injuries.
“Our thorough investigation is pretty standard,” said Boucher. “These are pretty serious allegations, and we have guys trained in this type of incident.”
Boucher said throughout the investigation, Gambler became uncooperative.
“(We knew) that no more information was going to be provided to us by the injured party,” said Boucher.
