Weekend police chase in Edmonton leads to arrest of northern Alberta pair

A northern Alberta man and woman are facing several charges in relation to a stolen truck after a chase involving Fort Saskatchewan RCMP and Edmonton police, on Saturday morning.

Just before 3 a.m. on Saturday, officers in Fort Saskatchewan were patrolling the area of 88 Avenue and 101 Street, and located two stolen vehicles behind a hotel, said police in a news release.

As police cruisers approached the area, one of the stolen vehicles, a blue Dodge Ram fled the scene at a high rate of speed, and officers were unable to recover that vehicle.

Officers were able to deploy a tire deflation device on the other truck, a white Chevrolet Silverado before it fled the scene toward Edmonton.

RCMP officers worked with EPS, and just before 5 a.m. EPS officers stopped the Silverado in the area of Manning Drive and Fort Road.

The driver and passenger fled the vehicle, but a EPS police dog chased down the driver, before officers were able to make an arrest. The passenger was detained without incident.

“The key was to get them safely arrested. When you’re dealing with a property crime like stolen vehicles, you want to hold people accountable and return people’s property, but at the same time, you want to ensure you’re keeping the public safe,” said Alberta RCMP Corp. Troy Savinkoff.

RCMP have charged Wyatt Whitford, 29 of Bonnyville with possession of property obtained by crime, operation of a motor vehicle while prohibited, possession of break-in instruments, flight from police and failure to comply with probation.

Frances Heigh, of Cold Lake, has been charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of property obtained by crime and possession of break-in instruments.

Police said Whitford has a long criminal history.

“He’s a prolific offender in every sense of the word. He has a history of property and weapons offences and lots of interactions and charges with police dating back a long time,” said Savinkoff.

“Us knowing about an offender like Whitford, he’s an example of someone our crime-reduction units would focus on. He’d be a target that we’d ensure of keeping apprised of.

“When people are out of jail, we don’t have the capacity of tracking them 24-hours a day. We track them as best as we can and then make sure if they’re released on conditions, that there is compliance.”

Heigh was released from custody and is expected to appear in court on Jan. 8, while Whitford remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 11.

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