Charges have been laid following an investigation which saw officers from the Central Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit (CAD CRU) assisting officers from Thorsby and Breton following a suspected break-and-enter.
On April 11, RCMP officers were contacted by someone following a vehicle they said had been involved in a break-and-enter.
While the person was following, the vehicle ahead slowed, and shots were fired at the follower.
The RCMP began investigating and after identifying a suspect, the CRU requested assistance from the Edmonton Police Service in conducting surveillance; as a result, they were able to obtain a pair of search warrants.
One of the warrants was for a property in Breton and the other was for a property in the Parkland detachment area.
A subsequent break and enter was reported in the Rimbey detachment area on the morning of April 12, where “numerous items including a truck a trailer were reported stolen.”
Officers, who had the Breton residence under observation, witnessed the stolen truck and trailer from Rimbey, along with another vehicle, return to that property.
At that time the RCMP Emergency Response Team executed the search warrant on the property, during which one of the suspects “used the vehicle he was driving” to ram police vehicles while attempting to flee the scene.
After the scene was secured, the vehicle was determined to have been stolen and re-vinned.
Both of the drivers at the property were arrested and a search resulted in the seizure of a loaded 9mm Berretta pistol, 682 grams of suspected methamphetamine, and 70 grams of suspected cocaine.
Inside the vehicle, “numerous items” from the Rimbey break-and-enter were found.
Officers believe that everything stolen from the Rimbey break-and-enter was recovered, including the truck and trailer, a gun safe full of rifles and shotguns, a variety of jewellery, passports and food.
A search of the property resulted in the seizure of around $120,000 worth of stolen property, including vehicles, side-by-sides, snowmobiles, tools, and more.
A search warrant executed at the Parkland detachment residence was executed the same day resulting in the recovery of around another $320,000 worth of stolen property including vehicles, holiday trailers, cargo trailers, a boat, firearms and more.
Following the investigation, Justin Handbury, 38, of Alder Flats, Alta., has been charged with 64 separate offences including:
-Break and Enter (x2),
-Possession of stolen property over $5,000 (x15)
-Possession of restricted/prohibited firearms,
-Possession of controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking (x2),
-And more.
Following an interim release hearing, Handbury was remanded into custody until his next appearance at the Alberta Court of Justice in Drayton Valley on April 16.
Marlace Monds, 37, of Alder Flats, Alta., has been charged with multiple offences including:
-Possession of stolen property over $5,000 (x14),
-Possession of stolen property under $5,000(x7).
Monds was released pending their next court date in the Alberta Court of Justice in Breton on April 24.
Jesse Jeffcott, 41, a resident of Alder Flats, Alta., has been charged with:
-Break and enter and theft of a firearm,
-Theft of a motor vehicle,
-Theft of Property over $5,000 (x2).
Jeffcott was remanded into custody pending his next appearance at the Alberta Court of Justice in Ponoka on April 19.
The RCMP announcing the arrests notes that the investigation is continuing, but would not have been possible without the CRU, Breton/Thorsby RCMP detachment, Parkland RCMP detachment, Drayton Valley RCMP detachment, the Police Dog Service, the Critical Incident Program, the Auto Theft Unit, or RPAS.
