A man and woman have been charged after police discovered more than $600,000 worth of vehicle parts and stolen property at a chop shop in northeast Edmonton.
The chop shop was discovered by police on Tuesday after officers conducted a traffic stop on Thursday, June 1.
Police pulled over a 2012 Dodge Ram with a flat deck trailer in the area of 121 Avenue and 76 Street. Police said officers discovered the trailer was stolen and the truck had an unauthorized licence plate.
The investigation led police to search a business, where officers said they recovered another stolen 2013 Dodge Ram that was in the process of being dismantled. Police said the truck was worth $80,000.
“Police are continuing to search the warehouse,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Hilton with the Edmonton Police Service.
“We’ve only searched about a quarter of the compound so far.”
Codie Fraser works across the street and said there was a heavy police presence at the parts lot on Tuesday morning. He said people were asked to leave the building with their hands up.
“Slowly, the employees started coming out, hands up. They made them walk towards the SWAT vehicle and put them all in cuffs,” Fraser said on Wednesday night. “They started checking the VINs of the vehicles.
“They had a dog walk through the building, as well. Today they’ve had tow trucks towing vehicles from the lot.”
Fraser said not long after the business moved in, a tall fence went up around the property.
“When they moved in here, they had a few parts, nothing crazy. Within the span of a week they had that big fence up. I didn’t really think much of it at first because they’re trying to hide what they have. It’s a parts place, they don’t want people stealing,” he said.
“As time went on you noticed that there’s no customers coming, looking at parts, buying parts.”
So far, police said they have recovered stolen tool boxes, tools, a forklift, licence plates, VIN plates, VIN stickers, vehicle parts and a prohibited butterfly knife.
Allen McKay, 53, is charged with unauthorized possession of a prohibited device, possession of stolen property over $5,000, possession of stolen property under $5,000, possession of property for the purposes of trafficking and altering or removing VIN.
Chrystal Lee McKay, 36, is charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000, possession of property for the purpose of trafficking and altering or removing VIN.
The investigation is ongoing.