Youths may face more charges
Police speculate stolen highways truck used in subsequent burglary
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, August 8, 2016
HAY RIVER
Two teenage males from Fort Providence charged in connection with a recent rash of burglaries - including at the Hay River Golf Club - could face additional counts, say RCMP.
Fort Providence RCMP have charged the youth in relation to a total of five break and enters in the two communities.
Const. Matt Halstead, a Hay River RCMP media relations officer, said the pair have so far been charged with only one of two break-ins at the Hay River Golf Club.
"Right now, they've been charged for the break and enter and the theft of the liquor on the 16th of July," he said. "And we're trying to corroborate any link between them being there on the 19th."
The youths have also been charged in relation to the theft of a Department of Transportation highways truck that was recovered on July 19 in Fort Providence.
Halstead said the stolen truck looks similar to a vehicle used during the July 19 break-in at the golf club but that has not been established well enough to lay charges.
"So we believe that they were involved with that but we haven't been able to actually place them inside the golf course or having any of the stolen property from there yet," he said.
A white truck similar to the one stolen in Fort Providence was seen on security cameras parked outside the golf club in the early morning hours of July 19.
Halstead said while it might seem a person could conclude that the two trucks are the same, the RCMP can't jump to that conclusion.
"We need evidence to support it," he said. "We're still trying to gather that."
Halstead said the police are comparing the security footage from the two incidents to try and look for anything that's specifically identifying in terms of clothing.
The scene at the golf club and the truck were also examined forensically, and the police are awaiting the results of that examination.
The accused teenagers are between 13-and 15-years old, Halstead said.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act prohibits the release of the names of the youths. The allegations have yet to be proven in court.
The RCMP responded to four break and enters in Fort Providence between July 13 and 26, according to a July 29 news release.
Security images from the Hay River Golf Club show two disguised persons in the club during both break-ins on July 16 and 19.
During the first break-in - at 3:13 a.m. on July 16 - the thieves disabled exterior surveillance cameras and stole between $600 and $800 worth of alcohol, according to information given to News/North from the club.
The cost of the destroyed security cameras was estimated at about $800.
The second burglary, which occurred at 4:29 a.m. on July 19, netted the thieves no more than $30 worth of alcohol.
There was no vandalism to the building, except for a broken door frame.
Halstead said the other break-ins in Fort Providence were at private residences and businesses.
