Man charged in theft of pickup

Picture Butte RCMP have charged a 30-year-old man after the driver of a pickup truck fled from police last month.

At about 6 p.m. Jan. 17, an officer attempted to pull over a truck westbound on Hwy. 845 near Enchant. The driver fled but the vehicle, which had been stolen from Calgary, was later found abandoned north of the community.

With help from the Lethbridge RCMP forensic identification section and Lethbridge city police, a suspect was later arrested in Lethbridge and charged with possession of stolen property and flight from police.

The man remains in custody on these charges, as well as several others that are outstanding from multiple jurisdictions throughout southern Alberta.

The suspect, who police say normally resides in Coaldale, is scheduled for a bail hearing on March 8 in Lethbridge provincial court.

Police also report that a 26-year-old woman charged in relation to thefts from Coalhurst has received an eight-month jail sentence.

The woman recently pleaded guilty in Red Deer provincial court to multiple charges of theft, break and enter, possession of stolen property, flight from police, dangerous driving and assault with a weapon. Some of the charges stem from the theft of a truck, travel trailer and backhoe from Coalhurst in 2015, and which were recovered a few days later north of Nobleford.

"The RCMP and its municipal law enforcement partners continue to target repeat offenders who are responsible for much of the rural crime in our community," Sgt. Tom Howell of the Picture Butte RCMP detachment said Tuesday in a news release. “Anyone who has information about this investigation or other incidents should contact their local law enforcement agency.”