This time of year anglers are known to catch cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout from the clear waters of the Crowsnest River but last week an RCMP officer landed a truly unique specimen to which laws and size restrictions do not apply: the drug addled car thief.

On Sept. 8 at approximately 7:20 a.m., Crowsnest RCMP Sgt. Greg Wiebe was driving to work when he saw something unusual going on: a westbound pickup truck had apparently driven off Highway 3 and into the river.

“I saw a big splash of water and I thought, ‘well that’s odd,’” he said. “So I pulled over and there was a truck in the river and there was a male and female getting out.”

After identifying himself as a police officer, Wiebe asked the two of them to stop, he said. But the pair didn’t stop and instead ran across the shallow riverbed and into the nearby town of Blairmore.

Sensing foul play, Wiebe got back into his vehicle, gave chase and called for backup. After a short pursuit, Wiebe found the suspects in an alley.
“The lady kept going and I grabbed the guy,” he said.

Police have a 25-year old male from Lethbridge in custody. He’s been charged with three counts of possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance and three counts of breach of conditions.

He will remain in custody until he appears in Pincher Creek Provincial Court.

The female suspect – the one that got away – remains at large but police are in the process of obtaining a warrant for a 48-year old female from Lethbridge on charges of possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance.

Wiebe described her as Caucasian with dark clothing and blonde hair.

The severely damaged truck was recovered from the river though both suspects were apparently uninjured in the crash. A search of the vehicle revealed methamphetamine and a significant number of cigars, which had been stolen from a gas station near Lethbridge.

It was determined that the vehicle had been stolen the night before from the Lethbridge area. Its licence plate had been stolen from Fort Macleod.

The pickup’s owner, Steve Kindt of Lethbridge ,said he was asleep when the suspects made off with his truck.

“I woke up in the morning for work and it was gone,” said Kindt of his Dodge Ram. “The neighbour said he saw a car parked by my truck the night before. They were there for a few minutes and then both vehicles sped away. I was inside sleeping.”

Kindt is the superintendent of a golf course and runs a small pruning business. He said his insurance company still hasn’t given him a rental vehicle and that he needed that truck for work.

“At least I recovered a couple of my tools,” he said. “But it still sucks.”