Man charged after suspicious package left at Edmonton Walmart

EDMONTON – A 27-year-old Edmonton man has been charged in connection with a suspicious package that was left inside a northwest Edmonton Walmart on Tuesday morning.

Police were called to the Albany Walmart, located in the area of 169 Avenue and 127 Street, around 10:20 a.m., after receiving a call about a suspicious package.

The EPS has released the following surveillance video, which captures a man walking into the store with a blue bag and leaving it at the customer service desk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DAdGtzSIaE&feature=youtu.be

“He toured the store for a few minutes, he left the bag at a customer service desk, claimed he’s left his wallet in his vehicle, and then left the store and left the bag at the customer service desk,” Detective Rae Gerrard with EPS West Division said Wednesday.

The store was evacuated and the EPS Explosive Disposal Unit was called in to secure the item. Gerrard would not release details of what was found in the bag, but says the package was deemed not to be a threat.

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“But suffice to say, it was of justifiable concern to the employees within Walmart and they did the right thing when they called out the police to make a professional assessment of the bag and its contents.”

Police want to stress these types of incidents are not taken lightly.

“Anything that appears suspicious to the community — call the police. Don’t be in any doubt, don’t think that you’re wasting the police’s time. We would rather be called and make an assessment and see that the package is not suspicious, rather than miss something and have something happen,” Gerrard explained.

Police put a plea out to the public to help identify the man in the video.

A 27-year-old Edmonton man, whose name has not been released, has since been charged with mischief and breach of probation.

This story was originally published on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014. It was updated at 4:36 MT Saturday, Jan. 18 to include information about the charges.