INNISFAIL -- Three alleged thieves face charges following an attempted getaway where stolen pickup trucks were driven northbound in the southbound lanes of the QEII highway, south of Red Deer.
Innisfail RCMP members responded to the town of Penhold following reports a red GMC Sierra had been lurking in the community.
Officers located the vehicle south of the town on Highway 2A where it had stopped on the highway next to a grey GMC Sierra.
When RCMP approached, both trucks drove off.
Additional RCMP resources were deployed from Blackfalds, Red Deer and Three Hills, as the trucks headed northbound in the southbound lanes of the QEII Highway.
The trucks were tracked to Range Road 261 — a dead-end road east of Red Deer city limits — where one of the vehicles had become stuck in a ditch and the other was left abandoned in the road.
The two occupants within the stuck truck were arrested on scene and the driver who had abandoned the second truck was apprehended a short distance away after being tracked by police dogs.
RCMP confirm both of the trucks had been reported stolen.
As a result of the investigation, 29-year-old Christopher Suderman, 28-year-old Mickala Schultz and 21-year-old Khristian Stach face charges.
Stach, a Calgarian, has been released from custody ahead of his scheduled appearance in Red Deer provincial court on March 25.
Suderman and Schultz, both residents of Red Deer, remain in custody ahead of their court appearance on March 21.
Penhold is located approximately 15 kilometres south of Red Deer.
