Two Calgary men were apprehended in the city three hours after vehicles and a home were broken into in a Turner Valley subdivision early this morning.
Turner Valley RCMP received a call from a Seclusion Valley resident about a suspicious vehicle, a white 2010 Volkswagon Jetta, coming and going into the subdivision at about 2:40 a.m.
RCMP soon located the Jetta - which had been reported stolen in Banff a week earlier - leaving the area at a high rate of speed and contacted local RCMP detachments, according to a press release by Cochrane RCMP.
The release states Cochrane RCMP later spotted the Jetta driving at “an extremely high rate of speed” on Highway 22 near Bragg Creek before later locating it on the side of the road, the car’s gas tank empty, in Springbank.
Cochrane RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said one occupant surrendered to RCMP and the other fled. He was later located in a doghouse by a police dog.
The two men face charges of possession of stolen property over $5,000, flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and breeching conditions of release. Further charges are pending including theft, attempted theft of a motor vehicle and breaking and entering into a residence.
The men are awaiting hearings to determine their release, at which time their names will be provided.
Since last night’s incident, Turner Valley Staff Sgt. Laura Akitt said the detachment has been following up on reports of vehicles being rummaged through and mischief done to them last night.
“I believe that all of the incidents within Turner Valley’s detachment area are related to those two (who were charged),” she said. “Now it’s a matter of getting evidence. At this point we don’t know what the intent was.”
Turner Valley RCMP discovered a culprit(s) broke into at least four vehicles in Seclusion Valley and drove one of those vehicles - a Ford F-150 - onto Dunham Lane, she said.
From one of the other vehicles entered, the culprit(s) used a garage door opener to access the garage, she said, adding the only thing reported missing was the opener.
Akitt credits the capture of the two men to the collaboration with other police detachments.
“It was a great joint effort between ourselves and Cochrane,” she said. “It was an amazing quick response by the RCMP and a great joint investigation. It goes to show that all of the surrounding detachments work closely together.”
Savinkoff said the public keeping an eye on activity in their neighbourhoods help police catch the bad guys.
“With crimes like this there’s way more eye witnesses patrolling the street of any neighbourhood than the RCMP can,” he said. “(The public) becomes the No. 1 tool in terms of detecting and catching people committing crimes.”
Savinkoff advises those who witness a crime to quietly call the police rather than interact with the criminals.
“We can make up a plan to go into a subdivision before the people know we’re aware,” he said. “It significantly increases our chances to be able to apprehend them.”
