WINNIPEG -- Portage la Prairie RCMP have charged six people after dozens of bottles of alcohol were stolen from a liquor store.
Officers were called to the Liquor Mart on Saskatchewan Avenue just before 6 p.m. Thursday. Police said a group of people wearing Halloween masks filled backpacks with bottles of alcohol and then drove off in a white pickup truck.
Witnesses gave police the license plate number, and officers began searching the area for the truck. Other police agencies were also notified to keep an eye out for it.
An officer with the Manitoba First Nations Police Service spotted the truck just north of Portage la Prairie on Road 71 North and Road 35 West. When officers stopped the vehicle, police said six people were found inside along with a large amount of alcohol inside the cab and the box of the truck. Halloween masks were also found in the vehicle.
In total, police said 40 bottles of alcohol were seized.
“These arrests will make a difference and were possible because the public immediately alerted police and provided officers with detailed information about the suspects and the vehicle,” said Sgt. Paul Manaigre, in a news release.
Four adults and two youths have been charged with wearing a disguise with the intent to commit a crime and theft under $5,000.
“We recognize that the increase of liquor store thefts is concerning to the public and we want to assure Manitobans that our officers will continue to rapidly respond and to lay charges against those responsible,” said Manaigre.
