Red Deer RCMP arrested 45 people and executed 110 warrants last week during a five-day warrant round-up, clearing a total of 142 charges and laying several new charges when suspects were found to be breaking laws at the time of their arrest.
On Dec. 15th and again Dec. 19th through 22nd, Red Deer RCMP targeted a range of offenders, including prolific property crime offenders, domestic violence offenders, people active in identity, mail and credit card theft, and repeat traffic offenders. Most of the offenders arrested had warrants for failing to appear in court and failing to comply with court-imposed conditions on top of the original crimes they were charged for.
One 28-year-old woman targeted in last week’s sweep was wanted on four warrants including charges for a personal robbery in which the victim was stabbed. RCMP arrested another 28-year-old woman who is flagged as a prolific offender after finding her hiding in a closet in a residence; she was wanted on 19 outstanding warrants for various property crimes, failing to comply with conditions and failing to appear in court. One prolific male offender who was picked up in Red Deer’s August warrant round-up and found to be in possession of meth was arrested again as part of the December warrant round-up after failing to appear in court; he was again located by police, arrested, and found to be in possession of meth.
On the traffic side, RCMP arrested several people who were wanted on warrants for repeated traffic charges, failing to pay the fines, and failing to appear in court. One man’s total charges for unpaid fines were $4,500 at the time of his arrest.
“This warrant round-up is another successful example of the targeted crime reduction strategies Red Deer RCMP use, following on the heels of a covert stolen vehicle operation earlier this month that resulted in 13 arrests, multiple charges and more than 30 warrants being executed, a number of search warrants and arrests with the Priority Crimes Task, and the recent Red Deer search warrants that took almost 30 stolen firearms out of the hands of criminals,” said Inspector Gerald Grobmeier of the Red Deer RCMP. “Between these special operations, our daily attention to policing crime hot spots and targeting career criminals, and the great support we get from citizens in reporting crime, our goal is to reduce property crime and reduce the impact of the drug trade on community safety.”
The warrant round-up was undertaken by members from Red Deer’s Community Response Unit, GIS and general duty, with significant support from municipal staff members including criminal analysts and watch clerks.
-Connolly
