The suspect in a violent carjacking in central Alberta that happened earlier this week was arrested on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after the RCMP asked for the public’s help to find someone who was “armed and dangerous.”
Michael Richter, 38, was arrested without incident, according to police. The RCMP declined to provide any details about the arrest or where it took place.
Police said they were told of a carjacking that unfolded following a collision near Haynes, Alta. at 4 p.m. on Monday.
They said an SUV collided with a pickup truck on Township Road 394.
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The driver of the pickup truck wasn’t hurt in the crash but Mounties said he was injured in a struggle that ensued with the driver of the SUV. They allege the SUV driver’s vehicle was “disabled” as a result of the crash and its driver then “forcefully took the pickup truck” and left in it.
The pickup truck, which at that point had two flat tires, then headed towards Ponoka before it was seen entering an oilfield lease site. A little over an hour after the crash, the RCMP said officers recovered the truck there and with help from an RCMP helicopter and dog unit, surrounded the area. However, police said they later figured out the suspect fled on a snowmobile before they could contain the site.
On Wednesday, police said an arrest warrant had been issued for Richter. He was wanted for robbery, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle and disobeying a court order.
Police said Richter was also wanted on previous warrants.
RCMP said even though the pickup truck driver wasn’t “directly threatened” with the rifle, Richter was considered “armed and dangerous.”
Haynes is located about 40 kilometres east of Red Deer.