A 30-year-old man is in the custody of Beiseker RCMP after stealing a boat and trailer then being arrested after losing control of both of them and the truck that was also stolen.

The incident started right before noon yesterday (August 1) when Beiseker RCMP received a complaint that a suspect in a black Dodge truck stole a boat and trailer from a residential property and was last seen entering Irricana.

The Detachment Commander of the Beiseker RCMP Sergeant Norman Mercier says they may have received a call to alert them to the theft, but they really didn't need it.

"We had two marked police vehicles in Irricana as the truck was passing through so prior to us even starting to investigating this, one member observed the vehicle almost simultaneously as it was being dispatched to us and the vehicle was observed travelling at a high rate of speed through the Town of Irricana."

Mercier says the driver ended up losing control of the boat and trailer behind the truck and the boat flew off the trailer into the southbound ditch.

"The trailer flipped over and was being dragged upside down and the vehicle fled eastward down a rural road.

The RCMP member attempted to initiate a vehicle stop but the truck was still travelling at a high speed.  No pursuit was engaged because of concerns over public safety.

Mercier explains that the driver nearly collided with another vehicle as he was fleeing.  Despite the face RCMP decided not to engage in a vehicle pursuit, the truck wasn't hard to follow.

"Based on dragging the trailer upside down, the driver left a large dust trail that was easy for police to follow."

Beisker RCMP then called in other resources to flood the rural area, including Strathmore RCMP, the Police Dog Service and the Calgary Police HAWCS helicopter.

The truck and trailer, which had become unattached from the truck, were located in a ditch on Range Road 252 just north of Township 270.  It appeared that the truck had lost control and driven through a barbed wire fence.  The Dog Service with help from HAWCS found the driver hiding in a marsh in a farmer's field where he was taken into custody.

The man suffered minor injuries during his arrest and was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.  He remains in police custody pending a judicial interim release hearing and is facing several charges under the Criminal Code.

Mercier says the black Dodge truck used to commit the offence is not the same one that police are looking for that was taken in earlier thefts from a rural property on July 22nd and 28th.  "This black Dodge truck was stolen out of Calgary and is unrelated to the black Dodge truck that was stolen out of Beiseker."

Mercier says the incident and the man remain under investigation by Beiseker RCMP in cooperation with Strathmore RCMP, Forensic Identification Section, and the Southern Alberta Crime Reduction Team.  

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