Two people face charges in connection following an RCMP investigation into the theft of animals from a rural property near Sundre.
According to RCMP, a woman returned home on the afternoon of Sunday, July 15 and discovered that the chain on her gate had been cut. After searching her house and other buildings on the property, she determined that someone had stolen animal feed, boxes of personal items, dog kennels, a horse, a dog, a Siamese cat and five lambs.
The homeowner stopped by a neighbour’s place to ask if they had seen anything suspicious. The neighbours indicated that they had seen a woman that they knew on the property in a white pickup truck on Saturday and they provided the homeowner with a description of the truck, the licence plate number and the address of the woman.
The homeowner visited the property of the suspected thief, spotted her stolen animals and called RCMP.
Officers were deployed to the location where they confirmed the animals were ill-gotten. A man and a woman were arrested and a search warrant was executed at the property resulting in the seizure of stolen property and a number of stolen animals.
“This is a perfect result of neighbours watching out for one another,” said Cpl. Joe Mandel of the Sundre RCMP detachment in a statement. “I am pleased that the Sundre detachment was able to get those animals back to their rightful owner.”
As a result of the investigation, 36-year-old Ginia Marie Ann Rees of Sundre and 60-year-old Carl Gerald Johnson of Rocky Mountain House have been charged.
Rees has been charged with:
- Break-and-enter
- Theft under $5,000
- Theft of cattle (six counts)
- Mischief under $5,000
- Possession of stolen property
- Obstruction
Johnson faces charges of possession of stolen property and obstruction.
The accused our scheduled to appear in Didsbury Provincial Court on August 20, 2018
