Three Alberta residents are facing theft charges after they were nabbed in a stolen vehicle by Sicamous RCMP.
On Friday, July 5, at approximately 10 a.m., police received a report of a stolen vehicle headed to Sicamous from Revelstoke. The vehicle had been reported earlier for erratic driving, and when the Alberta licence plate was checked, it was found the vehicle had been stolen from Red Deer a day earlier.
Sicamous RCMP conducted patrols east of town and soon located the vehicle headed west.
“When safe to do so, a tactical, high-risk take down was conducted,” says Sgt. Dave Dubnyk.
After stopping the vehicle, the five occupants were arrested at the roadside. Dubnyk said investigating officers soon learned two of the occupants were found to be hitchhikers picked up in Revelstoke with no knowledge the vehicle was stolen. They were interviewed and released at the scene. The other three, residents of Lacombe, Alta., were taken into custody and returned to the Sicamous detachment, and held for a hearing with a Justice of the Peace. Dubnyk says a 17-year-old was later released to the custody of his mother, who travelled from Alberta to pick him up.
The other two, one age 18 and the other 21, were remanded in custody and appeared in Salmon Arm provincial court on Monday. All three are facing charges of theft over $5,000. One of the adults is also facing multiple charges for being in breach of a court-ordered probation.
This file remains under investigation.