It was an exciting morning for the residents of the usually quiet old greenhouse neighbourhood of Barrhead. On Friday, April 10, at about 11:30 a.m., members of the RCMP cordoned off two square blocks, between 49 and 48 Avenues, between 50 and 51 Streets as they executed a search warrant on a house in 48th block of 51 Street.
Barrhead RCMP Detachment Commander, Sgt. Bob Dodds, said everything went as planned and no one was injured during the operation.
“We were assisting Morinville with an investigation connected to an armed robbery that happened in their area (Legal on April 6),” he said, adding that their investigation identified a Barrhead male as a suspect.
Dodds said the RCMP obtained a search warrant earlier in the morning and with the help of the Northern Alberta Emergency Response Team, along with regular members from the Swan Hills, Mayerthorpe, Westlock and Barrhead detachments.
Once on scene, the RCMP made contact with two males in the residence who surrendered without incident. The police then searched the residence and seized evidence directly related to the armed robbery in Legal. In addition, RCMP also seized a large quantity of ammunition in different calibers, several grams of cocaine, and a large quantity of cash.
After the search was completed, the police arrested the armed robbery suspect along with three other males. After questioning the individuals, the police were able to recover the shotgun the suspect used in the robbery, along with another long gun.
Until formal charges are laid by the Morinville detachment, Dodds said the name of the suspects will not be released.
