deadmonton 2006 - september crime report
mounties get help getting their man |
cycle caper in Capilano |
another night in Abbottsfield |
somebody got smokin' mad |
the green green grass of home |
you never know who your neighbours are |
dash and crash |
family feud almost finishes fatally |
tree foils car thief |
river valley shooting
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Mounties get help getting their man
Alberta's newly-minted sherriffs were only one day on the job when they netted their first big media exposure ... and a man packing some snow in September.
The first day of the month saw the Alberta Sheriffs Highway Patrol pull over a car for a traffic violation near Dunmore on the Trans Canada Highway.
Although he just got his badge and powers, the sherriff wasn't born yesterday and a vehicle search soon led to something suspicious.
The RCMP were called in to assist and police seized 113 grams of cocaine with an approximate street value of $17,000.
A 23-year-old male from Regina, Saskatchewan, was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Cycle caper in Capilano
It was bad enough that summer was over and that school was just around the corner, but to have your bike stolen ...
That was the case for two 12-year-old boys, out for a bike ride before school on September 3rd.
They had left their bicycles unlocked in front of a grocery store at 106th Avenue and 50th Street.
“We were gone a minute or two minutes,” said one of the boys. When they came outside all they found were their helmets.
“I’m like ‘crap,’ ” he said.
One of the mountain bikes had a silver frame with the word “Giant” written on the side.
“We came out and the police were already chasing them,” said the other boy, adding his black mountain bike had flames stickers pasted on it.
Police were already on scene responding to a nearby assault call. A man was beating a woman moments before the bicycles were stolen. Two thieves were spotted pedalling the bicycles over a foot bridge to the north side of the river.
Police said they know who one of the two two-wheeled bandits was. He's now wanted for assault, theft of a bicycle and six other outstanding arrest warrants. They described him as aboriginal, 5-feet 8-inches, 140 lbs, with black hair and brown eyes.
Another night in Abbottsfield
Police found themselves investigating another shooting when gunfire filled the air in the ever-popular crime area of northeastern Edmonton.
At about 9:10 p.m. on September 3rd, several shots rang out near 115th Avenue and 32nd Street.
"There was a couple of rounds shot into the air, and a couple of cars fled the area," said a police spokesman.
Someone inside one of the vehicles also shot at a person on a street a few blocks from the initial shootings.
As one of the cars fled the scene, it smashed into another vehicle near 118th Avenue and 46th Street. It then sped away.
No one was injured, no houses were hit and police recovered shell casings from the scene.
A description of the cars or the people in them wasn't immediately available, but police say one of the vehicles involved had damage to the driver's side.
Somebody got smokin' mad
One man asked another for a cigarette at the Tempo gas bar near 184th Street and Stony Plain Road at about 3:00 in the afternoon of September 4th.
Words were exchanged ... and the nicotine-challenged man followed the other to the lot of the Denny Andrews Ford dealership next door on Edmonton's west-end gasoline alley.
A handgun came out and the weedless-wacko pointed it at his non-benevolent buddy.
Several media accounts suggested that just as the trigger was pulled, the intended victim turned his head with a bullet grazing him above his right eyebrow. Police said the victim was injured by the barrel of the handgun.
A second shot was fired through the right-rear door window of a black SUV that was seen spinning doughnuts in the lot while chasing one person.
Somewhere along the way the gunman received a gash to the face. He and two others then made a dash for the Travelodge motel, located near the the car lot.
A woman at the Travelodge said a man with blood on his face had run into the hotel washroom.
"He came in with blood all down his mouth. There was blood splattered on the mirror and you could tell he was trying to rinse his mouth out," she said.
Police soon arrested one person in the lobby and two others in a room. All three, including a female under 18, were placed in “investigative detention.” A handgun was found in a bush near the motel.
Cops had to break out their Berlitz dictionary as they soon found themselves dealing with principals whose first language was not English. The victim and his friends only spoke Russian, while the worker at the Tempo gas station only spoke Korean.
But in a language that everyone can understand, Kyle Michael Papin, 20, was charged with attempted murder with a firearm, aggravated assault, unauthorised possession of a restricted weapon, use of a firearm in the commission of an offense, careless use of a firearm, knowingly possessing an authorised firearm, pointing a firearm, and possession of a firearm obtained by the commission of an offense.
Steven Ryan Ward, 24, was charged with breaching a probation order.
Paramedics took the victim to Royal Alexandra Hospital where he received stitches. He was reported in stable condition.
The green green grass of home
They scored four-for-four and found themselves waist-high in weed after swooping down on some of Edmonton's more high-end addresses.
Along with the pot, police pounced on a ganja-gang they described as "a network of guys who got together for the sole purpose of growing." Friends indeed.
On September 6th, the police Green Team were tipped off to a grow-op near 89th Avenue and 188th Street.
There they discovered four grow rooms in the basement with more than 546 plants in various states of development. Street value was placed as $546,000, with equipment pegged at $15,000.
60-year-old Fong Pui Chan, 40-year-old Vihn Quang Luu, and 46-year-old Cuong Quoc On were charged with production of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and theft of power.
Next came a home near 187th Street and 84th Avenue. Six grow rooms were found housing 833 plants with a street value of $833,000 along with grow equipment worth $18,000.
24-year-old Hang Nguyen and 41-year-old Van Ninh Dinh were charged with production of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and theft of power.
Strike three was conducted at 74th Street and 158th Avenue, with 5 grow rooms, 363 marijuana plants worth $363,000 and equipment valued at $15,000.
54-year-old Dudley Vuong and 26-year-old Tony Vuong were charged with production of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and theft of power.
The home runs ended with a final search warrant served at a home near Rhatigan Road and Riverbend Road. Four grow rooms were found containing 508 plants worth an estimated $508,000, with equipment worth $15,000. The lucky resident of this home had already been arrested and charged during the first warrant at 188th Street.
Police said many of the homes were recently purchased and on the upscale side, with one of them worth about $416,000.
Total tally? 2,250 plants worth $2.25 million, plus grow equipment worth about $63,000. And four houses for sale cheap -- provided they're not condemned first due to mould.
You never know who your neighbours are
Residents of the normally peaceful Edmonton neighbourhood of Inglewood were shocked to learn of a major drug bust that took place just down their street.
On September 7th police executed a search warrant at a home near 124th Street and 112th Avenue. There they found approximately 1200 grams of cocaine with a street value of $103,000 and nearly $20,000 in cash as well as a handgun.
Residents may sleep easier knowing that Frank George McFadden, 41, was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, possession of stolen property over $5,000, possession of a firearm knowing it is unauthorised and tampering with a serial number.
Dash and crash
Crime doesn't pay and it also doesn't pay to steal sunglasses at night as two dim-witted thieves and their dim-sighted driver soon found out.
Two men, one armed with a knife, held up the Shell Truckland outlet at 168th Street and 118th Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. on the morning of September 7th.
With a wheelman waiting outside in a hot red Cobalt, the pair made off with cash and sunglasses but not before leaving one of their jackets behind in the parking lot as a calling card.
Their getaway was going great until they crashed their Chevy into another car at 156th Street and 118th Avenue.
While the other driver was only slightly injured, the truckstop-stealing trio travelled on, trashing their wheels a few blocks away.
A keen-eyed cop spotted one crook hiding in some bushes who then coughed up the names of his fellow cronies.
Also confiscated was the weapon used and cash taken in the caper.
John Rusnak, 23, was charged with robbery and using a weapon in the commission of a crime.
Chadwick Arsenault, 21, was charged with robbery, criminal hit-and-run and possession of stolen property under $5,000.
Family feud almost finishes fatally
Just before 4:00 a.m. on September 7th, police received an emergency call from the Shell gas station near 118th Avenue and 129th Street reporting an assault in progress.
When they arrived they found an adult male suffering from a serious knife wound to his neck.
With no time to lose, paramedics worked on the man in the back of their ambulance while a police officer drove the vehicle to the Royal Alex Trauma Centre.
Preliminary investigative results indicated the assault could have been due to a family dispute that originated in one of the nearby apartment buildings.
Several persons related to the victim were taken into "investigative custody." At last report no charges were laid.
Tree foils car thief
A carjacker made good samaritans take one step back in the Woodcroft neighbourhood early in the morning of September 9th.
Residents heard the sounds of a car crash at about midnight when a white Dodge Neon hit a tree near 139th Street and 114th Avenue.
As neighbours rushed to the scene they found an overturned car -- and a man pointing a shotgun at them who then took off.
It turned out the crash-tested dummy had just commandeered the car and somehow lost control of his newly-acquired Chrysler.
Police were looking for a white male, 20 - 25 years old, about 6-feet 1-inch with brown medium-length hair. He was seen wearing a dark hoody and carrying a red bag ... in addition to a wounded sense of criminal bravado.
River valley shooting
To joggers running through Ezio Farone Park west of the High Level Bridge, the man coming up from the river valley on a walking trail did not look out of the ordinary.
It was only moments later when he was spotted sitting on the west steps of the Alberta Legislature building that he drew attention to himself -- doubled over, blood coming from a gunshot wound to his stomach.
Police were called to the Legislature Grounds at about 7:00 p.m. on September 12th to investigate an apparent shooting.
A man was taken to hospital where he was listed in serious but stable condition.
As the 25-year-old victim wasn't forthcoming with what happened to him before heading into surgery, police taped off a huge area of the grounds and connecting walking trails.
"He looked back a few times like someone was chasing him, but when I looked, there was nothing there," said one witness interviewed by police.
"He looked a little odd, but he didn't look like he was in massive pain," said another witness who was jogging through the area.
To assist in the investigation, the gang unit was called in -- something a police spokesman said was now standard procedure in shooting cases.
Detectives had to work fast. Within two hours of the initial call, a substantial rainstorm poured itself out over the city, likely washing away clues that would tell them the where and what behind this event.
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This page updated 12:29 2006-09-13.