There is nothing quite like having neighbours who have got your back covered.
A Sundre-area resident who lives on a rural property near Garrington Bridge returned home last week to discover her residence had been burgled and several animals had been stolen.
The woman — whose name we’ve decided to withhold out of respect for her privacy — promptly approached her neighbours, who had recently observed a suspect female drive a white truck onto the property.
The Good Samaritans captured some pictures and noted important details including the vehicle’s licence plate number. The victim, following a hunch, privately pursued the lead and drove to the suspect’s property in Bearberry in the hopes of finding her animals.
Upon discovering her missing dog, cat, horse and five lambs, she immediately left the property and promptly reported the situation to police, who subsequently obtained a search warrant and charged two people in connection with the offence. Click here for that story.
The animals have since been returned safe and sound to their rightful owner.
The Sundre RCMP detachment’s Cpl. Joe Mandel said that information provided by the public plays a pivotal role in helping police crack such cases.
“This is a perfect result of neighbours watching out for one another and I am pleased that the Sundre detachment was able to get those animals back to their rightful owner,” said Mandel.
And although he said police do not recommend that people privately pursue an investigation, the corporal added that the victim acted appropriately when she promptly left the scene to call police after finding the animals.
Providing the RCMP with evidence such as photographs and licence plate numbers so officers can further investigate an offence is the advisable course of action to take to reduce risk by avoiding the possibility of a direct confrontation that could result in an escalation, he said.
“Safety’s paramount,” he said.
Under no circumstances should anyone in such a situation proceed to directly confront a suspect, he added.
We certainly agree — the police are the professionals and pursuing investigative leads should be left in their capable hands.
But that being said, such leads might not even be available if not for caring, attentive neighbours who take note of suspicious behaviour.
So we applaud not only the RCMP’s efforts in successfully resolving this incident, but also the diligence demonstrated by those who helped make available the information police needed.
— Ducatel is the Round Up’s editor
