Two arrested in Olds stolen vehicle case

Two people are facing four charges after allegedly possessing a vehicle stolen from Olds that was used in a crime spree.

The two suspects, from Red Deer, were slated to appear in court last week after being arrested.

Shae-Lee Lynn Phillips, 20, was scheduled to appear in Red Deer court on Oct. 31. Phillips is charged with stolen property over $5,000 and two counts of failing to comply with conditions for release from custody.

Rory Richard Forslund, 32, is charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000. He was scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on Nov. 1.

The two were arrested in a downtown Red Deer apartment, allegedly in possession of a black Hyundai Tucson.

The vehicle had been reported stolen out of Olds on Oct. 15 after it had been left running and unlocked.

"The vehicle was reported to police in a number of incidents between Oct. 15 and 21 in Red Deer and Central Alberta," an RCMP news release says.

According to the news release, those incidents include several dangerous driving complaints, an incident with another vehicle reported as an intentional collision and two gas and dash incidents.

Police responded to each of those reports but were unable to locate the vehicle.

"It is not uncommon to see stolen vehicles used in a number of criminal and dangerous ways before they are recovered and often vehicles are passed from criminal to criminal," says Cpl. Karyn Kay with the Red Deer RCMP.

"In this series of incidents, the public was placed at risk numerous times over the course of several days as the unknown driver of the vehicle engaged in highly dangerous driving, including driving into oncoming traffic at high speed in one instance."

RCMP members are continuing to investigate the matter. They remind citizens to never leave vehicles unlocked and idling because that "provides easy opportunities for opportunistic thieves to endanger the community."