Airdrie RCMP have charged four people in relation to a recent lottery ticket theft that involved a car chase, according to a Monday news release.
On March 7 at 9:25 p.m., RCMP responded to a panic alarm at a Shell gas station in southwest Airdrie. The call was initially reported as an armed robbery but police later said the culprits were unarmed.
RCMP said an employee recognized a man as a suspect in an armed robbery from a bulletin and hit the panic button.
A stolen vehicle with four suspects inside left the parking lot, speeding away. Police deflated the tires with a spike belt in an attempt to stop the car on Yankee Valley Boulevard and Main Street but it kept going, heading east on Yankee up the ramp to Highway 2.
RCMP said highway traffic was stopped as the vehicle travelled slowly on four rims.
“RCMP stopped the suspect vehicle by forcing it off the highway into the east ditch,” police said.
Officers took four people into custody “without further incident.”
Donald Edward Blake, 38, of no fixed address, was charged with:
- seven counts of lottery ticket thefts
- dangerous driving
- possession of stolen property (the vehicle)
- possession of a controlled substance
- theft under $5,000
- flight from a peace officer
- operation while prohibited
- identity theft
Blake has been remanded into custody and is scheduled for Airdrie Provincial Court on April 2.
A man named Donald Edward Blake was charged in a string of Calgary thefts in June 2019 but RCMP could not confirm if it was the same Blake this case, only saying a man with the same name had “many theft convictions out of Calgary.”
Airdrie RCMP said a female was charged with theft under $5,000 and being an occupant of a motor vehicle without consent, which means she got into a vehicle knowing it was stolen.
A male in the vehicle was charged with three counts of theft under $5,000 and being an occupant of a motor vehicle without consent.
Another male was charged with being an occupant of a motor vehicle without consent.
The latter three were released on conditions and are set to appear in court on April 16.
Because the three were released right away, the information was not sworn, so police did not identify or provide ages for them in the news release.
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