Three people from Creston were arrested Wednesday afternoon, following an attempted theft from the Cranbrook Canadian Tire, and a foot pursuit by store employees, police and the RCMP Police Dog Service.
According to Staff Sergeant Hector Lee, Cranbrook RCMP received a report of a theft in progress from the Canadian Tire at the Tamarack Mall in Cranbrook, at about 5:30 pm on Wednesday, August 1.
A woman was apprehended by store employees — two men fled but were pursued by other store employees. Cranbrook RCMP General Duty Officers and Police Dog Service attended; along with the pursuing store employee were able to arrest the two men that were involved.
No one was injured during the foot pursuit and arrests. In addition to what was stolen from Canadian Tire, other items were recovered and seized such as credit and debit cards belonging to other people, and drug use paraphernalia.
The trio from Creston will be facing a variety of charges such as Theft Under, Possession of Stolen Property, Obstruction, and Breach of Probation. The 23-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man were released, and will appear in court on a later September date. A 23-year-old man from Creston is still in custody due to an extensive related history of property offences and breach of court orders.
We generally don’t encourage store employees or members of the general public to pursue criminal suspects to apprehend them but rather, if they can, follow at a safe distance after calling police so they may be able to help direct police to a suspect’s location,” St. Sgt. Lee said. “In this case, the employee was fortunate not to have been injured and his assistance was certainly appreciated.”
