Man charged with stealing farm machinery worth $1.2M

RCMP say they’ve arrested and charged a man and seized stolen farm equipment and other items worth more than $1.2 million that had been taken from private properties and businesses in several communities.

Iain Stables, 38, faces 29 charges, including 16 counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, seven counts of theft over $5,000, five counts of theft of a motor vehicle and one count of break and enter, according to an RCMP news release.

On Thursday, RCMP and the Saskatoon city police searched a property in the rural municipality of Montrose.

Officers found farm machinery and implements taken from citizens and dealerships in Saskatoon and the Biggar, Outlook and Rosetown areas.

Police said they recovered five John Deere farm tractors, two John Deere hay balers, two John Deere Gator side-by-sides, two Dodge trucks, one cattle hauler, one car hauler, one Haybuster, one mower and one tiller.

Stables, who is from the Montrose area, is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Saskatoon provincial court on April 14.