An adult and three youth from Innisfail will be facing charges after allegedly breaking into over 200 vehicles between early September and Oct. 12.
Innisfail RCMP said Ryan Alexander Miller, 20, also known as “T.K.”, and three 16-year-old youth – two girls and a boy - were arrested on Oct. 14 following an investigation.
Cpl. A.J. Mand said the group would walk around Innisfail and try to open car doors. Once they found a vehicle that was unlocked they would make their way inside and take whatever could be accessed quickly, including purses, wallets, CDs, cellphones, satellite radios, iPods, portable GPS systems, flashlights, Nintendo DSs, digital cameras, loose change, personal identification and clothing.
Const. Rick Buisseret said staff and students at Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School played a key role in breaking open the case.
The investigation is currently ongoing and charges are forthcoming, Mand added.
“We’re trying to identify the owners of the stolen property,” he said. “That’s the next step.”
All the vehicles that were broken into were unlocked, Mand said, noting that the group never broke a window to get inside.
“People could help us out by locking their doors,” he said, adding that valuables should also be kept out of sight. “That would deter a lot of things.”
Break and enter at high school
Two local youth are facing numerous charges after a break-in at Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School earlier this month.
According to Innisfail RCMP, the two 17-year-old boys allegedly entered the building after breaking a window in the library at about 6:45 a.m. on Oct. 3.
A teacher who had gone in to the school early that morning to coach volleyball discovered one of the youths walking down a hallway and yelled at him to stop. The youth, who appeared to be carrying a guitar, fled the scene.
Innisfail RCMP responded to the scene and called in the RCMP Police Dog Services to help track the suspects.
Const. Rick Buisseret, Innisfail RCMP’s school liaison officer, reviewed video from the scene and was able to identify the two youth, who both hail from Innisfail.
One suspect was arrested at his home about two hours after police had received the initial complaint. The other suspect turned himself in at the detachment, accompanied by his parents.
One of the youth is facing a charge of break and enter, theft, mischief, possession of stolen property and two counts of failing to comply with an undertaking.
The other youth is facing charges of break and enter, mischief, theft and one count of failure to comply with an undertaking.
They are scheduled to appear in court Oct. 27 in Red Deer.
