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Suspect evades police over span of nearly 12 hours

A male suspect wanted for possible involvement with break-in at Northern Alberta business evaded RCMP for 12 hours.
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A male suspect arrested for trying to flee the Barrhead RCMP on July 5 is now facing 36 charges on nine different files, including those arising from this week.

BARRHEAD, Alta — A break-in at a business in the Barrhead Industrial Park led to the RCMP chasing a local suspect throughout most of the day on July 5 before ultimately arresting him on a raft of charges. 

In an interview on July 6, Sgt. Bob Dodds of the Barrhead RCMP said the break-in occurred at a business that has been hit “numerous times” in the past year or so. 

"As a result, they’ve put up a very high-end camera system that captures some really good video,” Dodds said, noting that he was not sure when exactly the break-in occurred. 

In any case, the business received an alert via the security system and were actually able to identify three individuals committing the break-in. 

Barrhead RCMP later located a man and another female suspect at a residence close to the water treatment plant, Dodds said. 

While the female suspect gave up without a fight, the male suspect resisted and ended up running from the police, heading to the MacGill Estates area. 

Dodds said the police located the suspect again and he began threatening to harm himself. Eventually, a police dog was called in, but the man somehow managed to get out of the RCMP’s containment, Dodds said. 

Incidentally, a notice was sent out via the Barrhead and Area Regional Crime Coalition (BARCC) messaging system around 8 a.m. informing the public to watch out for the suspect. Another notice was then sent out at nearly 11 a.m. informing the public that the police operation in the MacGill Estates area was over. 

Dodds said they received information mid-morning that the male had returned to his residence, so the police surrounded his house and eventually entered after receiving a warrant. However, the man was not there. 

By mid-afternoon, the police received new information, the suspect had indeed returned to his residence. While they were surrounding the house, the man came out a back window and began running. 

Eventually, the police caught up to the man and, after a brief foot chase, they were able to arrest him, Dodds said. 

“It was a long, drawn-out ... set of circumstances,” he said, adding that it lasted nearly 12 hours, give or take. 

The female suspect was released yesterday, but the male suspect is still in custody and is facing charges relating to the July 5 incident. 

In fact, Dodds said the male has a total of 36 outstanding charges on nine different files dating back to September. 

On a final note, while this situation was unfolding, BARCC issued a notice not to share information online about ongoing police operations via social media. 

"Sharing this content puts the police and their operation at risk by providing information about their activities to those they are seeking,” the notice read.

Kevin Berger, TownandCountryToday.com

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