Two men and a woman have been arrested following a police pursuit and an attempted carjacking in central Alberta.
Mounties say a semi-truck was stolen from Edmonton at about 1:30am on Thursday, January 30th.
The semi-truck was tracked via a GPS device and Vegreville RCMP members were dispatched to the area after the theft was reported to Edmonton Police Service that day at approximately 8am. RCMP note that the vehicle fled from police but at that point no pursuit was initiated.
The RCMP helicopter then tracked the semi-truck as it made its way through Lamont, Chipman, and Bruderheim prior to a successful deployment of a tire deflation device. Police say the driver then got out and attempted to carjack another vehicle but was “subdued by responding officers.” The semi-truck’s other two occupants were also arrested after they tried to flee on foot.
Searching the stolen vehicle and a bag which had been tossed by the trio led police to discover the government ID cards and cheques belonging to at least 6 individuals, plus tools commonly used for property crime, and about 13 grams of suspected Crystal Meth.
A 46-year-old man from Edmonton, Patrick Hurley, was the driver and he was taken to hospital for medical treatment, according to police. He faces more than a dozen charges including theft of a motor vehicle and possession of methamphetamine.
A pair of Sturgeon County residents – a 49-year-old man, Jonathan Friesen and Bobbie-Lee Moody, a 37-year-old woman – both face six counts each of possession of identity documents, plus a charge of possession of break and enter instruments, and another charge of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
All three have upcoming court dates this month in Vegreville.
