After allegedly stealing a number of vehicles in the region at gunpoint and reportedly firing upon police, a 30-year-old man wanted for attempted murder in Sylvan Lake was arrested in Red Deer early on the morning of June 10.
After allegedly stealing a number of vehicles in the region at gunpoint and reportedly firing upon police, a 30-year-old man wanted for attempted murder in Sylvan Lake was arrested in Red Deer early on the morning of June 10.
Police had issued a warning on June 7 that Andrew Waunch, also known as Navee, and Ashley Chambers, 23, were considered armed and dangerous and were linked to an attempted murder incident that happened on the evening of June 3 near Sylvan Lake.
The pair also allegedly stole a pickup truck at gunpoint on the morning of June 7 near Olds and police were scouring rural roads east of Olds near Wimborne, a community located nearly nine kilometres north of Torrington, for the two suspects.
The man whose blue 1992 Chevrolet pickup truck was taken was Joe Bigelow, who considers himself lucky to be alive after giving an allegedly gun-wielding man a ride in order to protect his wife from harm.
"I'm still shaking," Bigelow said three days after the incident, which took place near his home northwest of Wimborne.
Typically never near home in the morning, Bigelow happened to be that day. While in his truck on Twp. Rd. 340 around 10:30 or 11 a.m., he noticed a blue Chrysler sports car with a tire problem driving by.
The tire's rim was in direct contact with the road and making a lot of noise.
"I thought it was strange. It was a fairly sporty car and if you or I had it we wouldn't be riding on the rim," Bigelow said.
He followed the car and it happened to pull into his driveway.
"By the time I got out he (the driver) was already on the deck hollering at my wife. I said hey, can I help you, trying to get him away from the house."
The man was cursing profusely, Bigelow said, and talking about how no one helped him at the last place he stopped. His female passenger had a similar demeanour, he said.
"He was hyper and frantic and I figured I'd just try to keep him calm. I said no problem, I'll help you."
Bigelow discouraged the man from parking his car in an inconspicuous place on the property, saying it should be left somewhere where a tow truck could get at it.
"I knew something was up. I just wanted them gone from there, away from my wife," he said, adding his wife was already phoning police as they stood in the yard.
Bigelow offered to drive the pair wherever they wanted to go. They accepted but wouldn't go without bringing some contents from the car with the flat tire with them.
Among the items they loaded into the box of Bigelow's truck were several rifles, he said.
"I didn't think I was coming back. I honestly didn't after seeing those rifles."
As they drove off, the man noticed an Equs service truck down the road.
"He said 'That's the cops, put it in reverse.' He kept hollering. I told him it wasn't the cops, he didn't have to worry. But he was pretty agitated," Bigelow said.
The man began waving a pistol around and Bigelow said he made the decision to stop the vehicle.
"I put it in park and I just jumped out into the ditch. I thought he was going to shoot me," Bigelow said.
He said he heard the gravel spraying as the man and woman sped off in the truck.
"It happened so fast. You're not really thinking about anything other than trying to keep calm. Thank God for that Equs truck," Bigelow said.
The Equs truck driver stopped to help Bigelow and drove him back to his home.
"I was shaking so bad I couldn't even phone," Bigelow said.
Police notified Bigelow on June 8 that his truck had been located and was being taken to Innisfail for investigation.
The next day, Red Deer RCMP received a complaint of robbery with a weapon at 7 p.m. where a suspect had stolen a vehicle from a person.
Four hours later, police found the stolen vehicle in the Creekside Trailer Park and attempted to stop the vehicle, which fled from police.
As police pursued the vehicle outside the city the suspect allegedly fired a number of shots at a police vehicle.
The suspect was able to escape and the stolen vehicle was later found abandoned in Bowden where a black Dodge pickup truck was reported stolen.
Police determined the person who stole the truck was the same suspect who had fled from and fired upon police earlier and the suspect was tracked to the south end of Red Deer, where Mounties deployed a spike belt to pop the truck's tires.
The suspect attempted to flee on foot but police were able to arrest him.
No one was injured.
Sylvan Lake RCMP confirmed to the Olds Albertan that the suspect who was arrested is Waunch.
Red Deer RCMP laid 15 charges against Waunch, who police said has no fixed address, relating to the incidents in and around Red Deer on June 10.
Waunch is charged with attempted murder, robbery with a firearm, kidnapping, two counts of flight from police, theft over $5,000, use of a firearm while fleeing from police, use of a firearm while committing an indictable offence, two counts of dangerous driving, possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, discharging a firearm to prevent arrest, discharging a firearm while being reckless and being an occupant of a motor vehicle knowing there was a firearm in the vehicle.
Waunch was also charged on June 13 with attempted murder, robbery with a firearm, breaking and entering into a residence and committing robbery, unlawful confinement and pointing a firearm relating to an attempted murder investigation in Sylvan Lake stemming from June 3.
On that day at roughly 10 p.m., Sylvan Lake RCMP were called to a residence outside of Sylvan Lake for an offence involving firearms.
Upon arriving, police learned that a man and woman had attended the residence and demanded money and jewelry from a man and his spouse under threat of serious injury.
The suspect was carrying a firearm, police said and allegedly fired the weapon at the male victim.
The weapon did not discharge and no other attempts were made to fire it again.
The two suspects took money and property from the residence, police said.
The victims are well-known business people with no known ties to any criminal activities, police said.
Waunch is scheduled to appear in Red Deer court on June 14 at 9:30 a.m.
Chambers turned herself in to police on June 16 at the Airdrie RCMP detachment.
She was wanted on outstanding warrants for attempted murder, robbery and other offences relating to the attempted murder investigation in Sylvan Lake.
She was scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on June 18.
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