Local police have arrested four people and recovered tens of thousands of dollars in stolen property in connection to break-and-enters and thefts in Olds and other Central Alberta communities dating back to April.
Cpl. Jay Peden, a spokesman for the Olds RCMP, said police have been investigating connected break-and-enter and theft sprees in and around Olds from the spring and summer and a break in the case came on Oct. 28 during a traffic stop in Sundre.
Police pulled over a pickup truck that day in a Sundre industrial area that was stolen from Olds Concrete on Oct. 4.
The truck was loaded with stolen property including copper wire, tools, a generator and electronics, police said.
Further investigation, Peden said, revealed the pair of suspects were connected to break-in and theft incidents in the region and police determined other people were involved in the criminal activities as well.
On Oct. 30, Sundre RCMP executed a search warrant related to the investigation at a Sundre motel where they recovered a large amount of stolen property.
The two men found in the stolen truck— Jason Furlong, 39, who resides in Olds, and Kevin Leischner, 42, who lives in the Olds-Torrington area— were arrested and each charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, breaking and entering, possessing break-in instruments, theft over $5,000, theft under $5,000 and obstructing a police officer.
In the wake of the investigations in Sundre, police from Olds and Three Hills searched a rural Olds property and recovered property stolen from a number of businesses in the Olds and Innisfail areas.
Police in Olds and Innisfail continued to identify suspects connected to the stolen property and as a result of the ongoing investigation, the Olds RCMP searched a residence at 5129 51 St. in Olds on Nov. 8 and recovered between $30,000 and $40,000 in stolen property.
The stolen items found at the home included speakers from an audio-video business in Rocky Mountain House, gardening supplies including fertilizer from a gardening centre in Innisfail, tires and trailer hitches.
Peden said some of the items recovered at the residence come from break-ins that happened in Olds earlier this year.
Olds police reported at least two break-in and theft sprees in town this year including a spree in April where six homes were broken into and a spree in late August and early September where thieves targeted roughly a dozen businesses in Olds and Bowden.
A resident of the 51 Street home, Michael Kelm, who is in his late 30s, was arrested as a result of the executed search warrant at the residence.
He is charged with 19 counts of possessing stolen property under $5,000 and one count of possessing a restricted revolver firearm.
Kelm was also charged with possession of a controlled substance at the time of his arrest.
After a search warrant was executed at his home in December 2012, Kelm was convicted on two drug possession charges and was fined $750.
During the search of Kelm's residence and garage on Nov. 8, the Olds Fire Department was called in to assist and monitor air quality in the home due to air quality concerns.
Police also arrested a woman living at the home at the time of the search and she is also facing property-related charges.
Peden said police are looking to speak to other people as part of their continuing and “still growing” investigation into the break-ins and thefts and more charges will be laid.
Some of the recovered stolen items have been used and there is evidence some of the property stolen in this area is being sold elsewhere in the province, he added.
As for where the items are ending up or who is orchestrating the break-ins and thefts, Peden said the thieves receive “shopping lists” from people “higher up in their little rings.”
“A lot of items are targeted specifically based on the needs or wants of the consumer,” he said, adding the suspects arrested in the last two weeks were known to police prior to their arrests and are part of a larger group of people operating together.
Police in Olds, Sundre, Innisfail and Didsbury are working together on the investigation.
Furlong and Leischner are scheduled to appear in Didsbury court on Nov. 18 and Kelm is scheduled to appear on Dec. 23.
MORE TO COME…
