SUNDRE — A Sundre-area resident said he was left shaken up and frustrated but otherwise physically unharmed following a harrowing close call with fuel thieves when he caught the culprits red handed and started to take pictures following a friendly tip from a neighbour.
The Sundre RCMP detachment issued on Aug. 10 a press release seeking information on suspected fuel thieves that had early during the morning hours that same day struck a local business called SNL Energy Services on the west side of town.
The culprits – who according to police were coordinating their efforts in two vehicles, a white pickup truck as well as a red F350 – reportedly broke into the business’s yard at about 5:30 a.m. and proceeded to hitch a trailer that was carrying a 1,000-gallon (3,785-litre) white fuel tank with a decal of the company’s logo on the side. The stolen trailer has an Alberta licence plate number 5HX188.
Less than an hour later at about 6:25 a.m., the white pickup truck – with the stolen trailer and fuel tank still in tow – was according to police seen by a witness at a rural property near the junction of highways 27 and 22 east of Sundre. The red F350, which police later confirmed as having been stolen from Olds, was also present as the thieves lurked suspiciously around the construction equipment. By that time, a third suspect vehicle – a dark-coloured Dodge pickup – had joined the other two suspect vehicles, police reported.
Upon realizing a witness was watching them and starting to take pictures, the thieves promptly fled the scene, with two of the suspect vehicles striking his own on the way.
Jason Bird told the Albertan he was that witness.
“When I got there, there was three trucks,” said Bird, who lives east of town in the Westward Ho area.
Bird said he and his father own the property located in the Cowboy Trail Business Park, where they are in the process of building from the ground up a new business called the Westward Ho General Store and Trading Post after obtaining their permits from Mountain View County.
“It’s a smaller version of the dream store we want to do, but it’s a start,” he said. “We’re putting the foundation in right now and we have our heavy equipment up there. So, that’s what they were digging into.”
When his neighbour, who was aware they weren't out there working that day, tipped him off that the pickup trucks were parked on the property next to the heavy equipment, Bird immediately became concerned something was amiss and decided to personally go check things out.
“When I went out there and saw three vehicles parked beside the scrapers – our heavy equipment – I knew right away what they were up to,” he said, jokingly adding he'd hoped against hope they were simply innocently looking for a logo or phone number on the machines that they could call to hire the contractor.
“There’s a lot of people that’ll turn in there just to turn around,” he said about the property.
“But when parked beside our equipment like that, it’s something a little fishy,” he said. “There was a diesel jerry can on the ground and then that fuel tank (from SNL) right beside it. They had the cap off of our hydraulic tank and it was laying on the ground.”
But by the time he arrived, Bird said he did not recall seeing any of the suspects outside of their vehicles.
“They were all sitting there,” he said. “So, when I rolled up and took my phone out trying to take some photos, and as soon as they kind of seen me sneak up behind them, that’s when they took off.”
His attempt to pursue the fleeing suspects in the hopes of capturing as much photo evidence as possible was short lived.
Bird recounted that when he tried to follow the suspects to continue taking more pictures, the red F-350 and dark-coloured Dodge subsequently ran a screen by ramming his vehicle to enable the driver of the white pickup to get away with the fuel tank.
The drivers of the two trucks, who he described as hiding their faces behind masks, stopped and went into reverse. One of them collided into the front of his vehicle while the other hit his passenger side, he said.
“I got hit three times – those guys were malicious,” he said. “They wanted that fuel tank to get away. Those guys turned around to make sure that guy could get away.”
As the suspects were ramming his vehicle to keep him boxed in, Bird said he dialled 911 at – according to his phone’s time stamp – 6:25 a.m.
An officer arrived at the scene shortly after 7 a.m., he said.
Emphatically expressing a profound level of respect for the difficult work police officers do – he grew up at one point aspiring to enlist – as well as an understanding of the limited resources departments have to work with, Bird said the response time of roughly 45 minutes to a location barely more than 10 minutes away from the detachment in a situation where a person reported being rammed by thieves in the act of carrying out a crime, left a lot to be desired.
And while Bird also recognized that responding to more minor complaints might take a while when police must triage and prioritize incoming calls based on urgency, he felt such an incident should have prompted a speedier response.
“I understand if they were on a more important call or something,” he said. “(But) I could have been lying there dead.”
Initially left riled up and angry by the whole ordeal, the benefit of sober second thought and reflection later led Bird to be relieved the suspects did not draw any weapons and that the situation did not further escalate.
However, he also expressed concerns that people are “becoming fed up” and worries about folks resorting to taking matters into their own hands. He also questioned whether running the risk of escalating an already volatile situation and potentially putting lives on the line over replaceable property is worth it.
Bird, who also expressed gratitude to his neighbour for keeping a watchful eye out, said he candidly shared his account of what happened that morning not to place undue pressure on police officers who already have plenty on their plates, but rather more to express concerns and highlight what seems to be a lack of resources.
“The police have my respect,” he said. “And they have a tough job.”
Although details on the suspects’s descriptions were scant, police reported that one culprit seen to be with the dark-coloured Dodge pickup was described as a Caucasian male wearing over his face a black bandana with a red skull on it.
Information about this crime can be reported to the Sundre RCMP at 403-638-3675. Callers who prefer to remain anonymous may alternatively contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), submit information online at www.P3Tips.com, or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.
