INNISFAIL - A Red Deer man wanted in connection to an armed robbery last fall in Alix was finally arrested this month by local Mounties in Penhold.
The suspect was also wanted by Stettler RCMP for several other serious Criminal Code offences that occurred within three days after the Alix robbery.
"This is a great example of the teamwork between the detachments and the specialized units such as the Forensic Identification Section” said Bashaw RCMP Sgt. Bruce Holliday. “We consistently share information and intelligence between various detachments because we’re very alert to the fact that criminals travel, and investigations can be connected. Travelling to a different jurisdiction doesn’t mean a criminal won’t be found.”
On Nov. 26, Bashaw RCMP responded to an armed robbery at the Gas Plus in Alix. The suspect vehicle was abandoned in Stettler and the RCMP Forensic Identification Section assisted in processing evidence for this investigation, said RCMP.
The following day Stettler RCMP responded to two different complaints of stolen vehicles. On Nov. 29 Stettler RCMP were called to a break and enter and theft from a residence . RCMP said the three Stettler incidents were determined by investigators to be related to each other, and to the Bashaw armed robbery.
And then almost six months later Innisfail RCMP, following a citizen’s complaint of a suspicious male in Penhold, were contacted and Mathew Joseph Duda, 30, of Red Deer, was located and arrested.
As a result of the various RCMP investigations Duda is charged with several offences connected to the Alix armed robbery, including robbery, assault with a weapon, and possession of property obtained by crime. As for the Stettler incidents, Duda is charged with theft of motor vehicle, mischief under $5,000, break and enter and stealing a firearm, and break and enter and committing theft.
Duda is currently in custody.
