BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - RCMP have charged four Barrhead-area residents in connection with a pair of break-and-enters at rural properties in Westlock County and the County of Barrhead.
According to an April 11 RCMP media release, on April 5, officers from the Westlock RCMP, assisted by members from the Barrhead RCMP and Westlock Traffic Services Unit, located and arrested two men who were in the process of breaking into a Westlock County property. Those men were arrested and placed in custody.
At roughly the same time, police had also located and stopped an associated suspect vehicle, a purple PT cruiser. However, police released the vehicle as they did not have grounds to detain the driver or conduct a vehicle search.
The release further states that later that day, the RCMP received a report that the same vehicle was at a County of Barrhead property.
Barrhead RCMP located the vehicle and determined that its two occupants were involved in another break-and-enter. They also noted that there was property in the vehicle that had not been there previously.
The release states that the Barrhead RCMP also received a tip that the occupants of the PT cruiser had been spotted unloading property at a Barrhead residence.
Armed with this information, along with other police intelligence, RCMP applied for and received a search warrant for the previously-mentioned Barrhead property, along with the suspect vehicle.
During the search, police confiscated several stolen items that have, to date, been linked to nine break-and-enters dating back to the beginning of March.
In total, four Barrhead area residents face numerous offences, including break-and-enter and possession of stolen property obtained by crime.
The four have since been released from custody on conditions and are slated to appear May 23 in the Barrhead Court of Justice.
The RCMP release states that one of the released suspects has since breached his release conditions and police are looking to take him back into custody.
Barrhead RCMP asks anyone who has been the victim of a break-and-enter in the new year within the Barrhead, Westlock or Woodlands County areas to contact them at 780-674-2696 with a description of any stolen property as they "hope to return any stolen property to its rightful owner and charge the culprits accordingly."
The RCMP also noted that they were able to solve these crimes due to the timely tips from the public, which serves as a reminder to continue to report suspicious activity promptly.
