Three Calgary residents are facing charges after they were located in Drumheller with property reported stolen from Sundre residents during the vehicle break-in frenzy in May.
The group rummaged through roughly 30 vehicles in Sundre, mostly unlocked, during the evening of May 26 and into the early morning of May 27.
During the early morning of June 25, Drumheller RCMP officers responded to a complaint of a suspicious vehicle in Drumheller, which led to the arrest of the three individuals.
Michael Akey, 29, Joshua Akey, 23, and Kaitlyn Stewart, 20, are facing charges of possession of stolen property and possession of controlled substances, according to Sundre RCMP Const. Mike Martin.
“Property reported stolen from vehicles in Sundre was recovered from these individuals,” said Martin, in a press release. “Further charges are also pending against Michael and Joshua Akey for offences related to the vehicle entries in Sundre.”
Sundre RCMP Cpl. Ryan Hodge mentioned the situation during a presentation to Town of Sundre council on Aug. 6.
“Overall our crime is down, the only area that went up significantly was property crime, and that's directly tied to one evening where we had 30 vehicles broken into and items stolen,” said Hodge. “I'm happy to say that investigation now has led us to bigger things, involving Calgary Police Service and Drumheller detachment. We've recovered some of the property and are laying charges, so we have the three people responsible for this crime and we don't expect to see anything similar to this in the future. The people were taking advantage of a sleepier town, for lack of better words.”
Only a few days after the incident, Sundre RCMP officers recovered video footage showing two unidentifiable males in the area during that time.
“The males targeted unlocked motor vehicles throughout the town of Sundre and stole various items, cash, credit cards and garage door openers,” said Hodge at that time, adding that such an occurrence is rare for Sundre.
Although the majority of vehicles were unlocked, at least one victim said hers was not.
“The investigation into this occurrence is continuing,” said Martin. “The Sundre RCMP encourage citizens to be proactive and ensure they lock their vehicles and secure any valuables.”
Sundre RCMP officers are asking for anyone with any information regarding the incident to contact the detachment at 403-638-3675 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477).
