CHESTERMERE – During the early morning hours of Oct. 12, a resident in the Sandy Cove area of Chestermere awoke to the sound of his garage door opening.
After looking out his window, the resident witnessed the culprits stealing his work truck, which was parked in front of his home.
Members of the Chestermere RCMP were dispatched to the area and located the stolen truck being driven down a long dead-end driveway just east of Highway 1 near Town of Chestermere’s public works yard. Officers positioned their vehicles at the end of the driveway, and signalled for the driver to stop.
The driver of the stolen truck refused before attempting to ram the police vehicle in the process of fleeing the area. It was determined by the officers that the risk to the public was too great, so a high speed pursuit was not initiated.
“We often have to do a risk assessment at the time as to whether or not we have to stop the vehicle,” said Staff Sgt. Glenn Henry. “If it’s a stolen vehicle, then we put more people at risk.
“We can recover a stolen vehicle later rather than chase them down the road and put others at risk. Sometimes we just have to ask if it’s worth it.”
Henry said that making the decision whether or not to pursue a suspect is probably one of the hardest things that RCMP members have to do.
“They made the right decision on that one,” he said.
The stolen truck was last noted being driven at a high rate of speed towards Calgary. It is a white 2007 Chevrolet Denali with Alberta licence plate YYW633.
Henry said that it was later determined that the truck was likely broken into, and because a garage door opener was inside the vehicle, it was used to open the garage door. Inside the garage the truck keys were discovered and utilized to steal the vehicle.
During the same evening or early morning hours of Oct. 12, four unlocked vehicles parked at separate residences along West Chestermere Drive were entered. The culprits took items including ladies golf clubs, an upholstery stapler, a GPS, a cell phone charger, and even small amounts of change.
An unlocked vehicle parked in the Stonemere Point area also was entered and personal documents were removed.
It has not been determined if the stolen vehicle incident and these thefts are directly related.
Henry said that this type of criminal activity remains a policing priority for the Chestermere RCMP. Residents are encouraged to lock their vehicles at all times, especially at night. They are further reminded to remove any and all items of value reducing the desire of thieves to force entry into their vehicle. Finally, residents are asked to call the Chestermere RCMP if they note any suspicious activities at their homes or near their neighbours homes.
If anyone has any information regarding these crimes or any others, contact the Chestermere RCMP at 403-204-8777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or through the internet at www.tipsubmit.com. Crime stoppers will pay cash rewards up to $2,000 for information that leads to an arrest, the recovery of stolen property or seizure of illegal drugs. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display and the identity of the caller will remain anonymous.
