CHESTERMERE – On Dec. 20 at around 9:30 p.m., two males in their late 30’s entered the Sobey’s Liquore Store in Chestermere.
A staff member recognized one of the males as being in the store a week earlier on Dec. 13, as he was captured on video surveillance, stealing numerous bottles of liquor.
Both males were in the store for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, and were again captured on video while inside. One male, who is described as a Caucasian male in his late 30’s with blonde hair and scruffy facial hair, tried to distract the store employees by talking to them. He was wearing black work jean overalls and was around 5’10.
The other male took liquor bottles off of the shelf and put them inside of his jacket. The male that was attempting to distract the staff members then left the store, before staff confronted the second male.
He denied having any liquor bottles concealed on his person, but the staff members could see items beneath his jacket that resembled bottles. Upon further questioning, he was found to have three bottles of liquor stuffed in his jacket, which he eventually surrendered to store staff before leaving the store.
He joined the first male, as well as a third person who is believed to be a female, in a white Dodge Neon.
The male, who was found in possession of the concealed liquor bottles, is described as a Caucasian male in his late 30’s, with brown facial hair. He was wearing a dark colored toque, a grey/tan jacket with a white stripe, with a yellow hooded sweatshirt underneath. This male appeared to be wearing blue track pants with a white stripe down the side and white runners. He is thought to be around 6’0.
“We would just like to make the community aware that thefts and shoplifting are happening,” said Staff Sgt. Glenn Henry. “It’s good to get the word out locally, especoally to businesses, that these people exist.”
Henry said that it is a common technique for two people to enter the store, and for one to distract the staff members while the other shoplifts the items. He said that this is something to watch out for.
“We hope that by providing some photos, which were were lucky to get from the security cameras, that the public might be able to help us identify these individuals,” he said.
The public is requested to view the photographs of this person of interest to the police, and if they have any information about this this crime or any other, are asked to 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.
