Westlock RCMP has recovered a stolen pickup truck they say may be connected to armed robberies in Athabasca and Thorhild County.
On Wednesday, Jan. 13 police received a call advising them that a burned-out Dodge Dakota was in the Tawatinaw area. The truck was found in a field near the Tawatinaw Cemetery on Range Road 240A.
“We think it might have been used in a couple of armed robberies,” said Westlock RCMP Const. Rick Buisseret adding that the detachment had been tipped off by police in Athabasca and Redwater to be on the watch for an abandoned Dodge Dakota.
Buisseret said the vehicle matches the description of a truck involved in two armed robberies that took place within hours of each other on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
According to Athabasca RCMP, at approximately 3:20 a.m. an unknown man with a bandana over his face entered the Husky Convenience Store, located at Highways 2 and 55 in Athabasca.
The suspect demanded money from the clerk while pointing a firearm. The clerk complied, and the man sprayed bear spray at the clerk while leaving the store. The man left the scene in a black Dodge Dakota.
Several hours later, at approximately 9:50 a.m., in Newbrook, video surveillance showed a dark-coloured Dodge Dakota leaving the scene of an armed robbery with a red jerrycan in the back.
Buisseret said the pickup had been reported stolen out of the Hamlet of Rochester two days prior.
Westlock, Athabasca and Redwater police continue their investigation.
In an unrelated incident police are investigating a break and enter that occurred overnight between Wednesday, Jan. 13 and Thursday, Jan. 14.
Buisseret said overnight a shed at a rural residence was broken into and over $2,500 worth of equipment including a generator, a diesel heater, horse saddles and an unknown quantity of dyed farm fuel was stolen.
When the homeowners woke up on Thursday morning, they discovered the items missing from a detached building and phoned police.
“They were home overnight, but where they break-in happened, it wasn’t directly attached to their property,” Buisseret said.
“It’s kind of away a little bit, it’s kind of isolated.”
Anyone with information on either incident is encouraged to contact the Westlock RCMP Detachment at 780-349-4492 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
