ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE – An Innisfail man has been charged along with three others with multiple stolen property and counterfeit money offences following a lengthy police pursuit in the West Country.
At about 7:15 a.m. on Nov. 17, Innisfail RCMP reported two vehicles had been involved in a “gas and dash” at the Co-op gas bar in Spruce View.
One of the vehicles, a Jeep Liberty, had been reported stolen from Red Deer. Both vehicles subsequently fled towards Caroline. Rocky Mountain House RCMP were notified of the incident and began patrolling the area around Highway 22.
At about 8 a.m., Rocky RCMP members located both vehicles at the intersection of highways 22 and 54. Police attempted to stop the vehicles but both sped away.
A short time later, members of the Rocky detachment located both vehicles on Trunk Highway 734.
Police attempted to stop the vehicles but they fled again. However, the suspects in both vehicles were eventually stopped. Dylan Steinbach, 24, of Innisfail, along with Katie Carpentier, 19, of Red Deer, Brenden Bowe, 26, of Red Deer and Natasha Fyfe, 32, of Three Hills, were all arrested at the scene.
Rocky RCMP said numerous pieces of stolen identification, including credit cards, bank cards and chequebooks, were located inside the vehicles. Police also discovered counterfeit American and Canadian currency and equipment used to manufacture counterfeit money. A BB handgun, methamphetamine and marijuana were located in one of the vehicles, said RCMP. Police added most of the stolen identification documents were from Red Deer and Sylvan Lake. Steinbach has been charged with seven counts of possession of stolen property, flight from police, two counts of possession of counterfeit money and producing counterfeit money, possession of a counterfeit machine, driving an uninsured vehicle and theft of fuel. His three co-accused face similar charges.
Steinbach and Carpentier were both released from custody and appeared in Red Deer provincial court. Fyfe was also released from custody and also made his first court appearance in Rocky Mountain House. Bowe was remanded into custody.
