BARRHEAD - Barrhead RCMP Detachment commander Sgt. Bob Dodd's mantra to the public has always been if someone or something is suspicious, is to call the police promptly.
On Oct. 18, a Barrhead area resident took his advice and did exactly that, and as a result, RCMP arrested a 52-year-old Gunn man and charged him with six weapons-related offences.
In a media release, Dodds said that Barrhead RCMP members responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle about four minutes west of Barrhead near the intersection of Highway 18 and Range Road 40.
"[The complainant], while on the phone providing details, advised us that a man had just returned to the suspect vehicle," he said, adding that when RCMP members arrived on the scene roughly 10 minutes later, they located a man on an ATV.
Dodds also said at the scene was a black 2017 GMC pickup with a single-axle flat deck trailer.
"The licence plates on all three were not matches, although nothing came back as stolen," he said.
Police also learned that the man was the subject of an arrest warrant from Mayerthorpe for no insurance.
Since the pickup had broken down and it was not registered or insured, police opted to tow the vehicles as they were considered a safety hazard and were blocking access to an adjacent farm field.
Dodds said when the members conducted an inventory check of the truck, they found a loaded .30-30 rifle, a prohibited Second World War-era STEN submachine gun with two prohibited 30-round magazines, a 12-gauge shotgun with the serial number obliterated and a 7.62-millimetre rifle, adding that police also found and confiscated ammunition from the latter two weapons.
Police took the suspect into custody, and early the following day, the accused appeared before a Justice of the Peace and was released on $2,000 bail with no cash deposit.
He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Nov. 14.
"The detachment would like to thank the complainant for reporting this suspicious vehicle, and we continue to encourage residents to report suspicious activity immediately," Dodds said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
