Truck hitting ditch leads to seizure of $500K in stolen property: Manitoba RCMP

Supplied image of the stolen items police recovered. (Source: Manitoba RCMP)

The Manitoba RCMP seized $500,000 in stolen property earlier this week in an investigation that started with a vehicle hitting a ditch.

The incident began at 10:10 a.m. on Monday when officers received a report of a truck and trailer hitting a ditch near a property on Highway 329 in the RM of Bifrost-Riverton.

When Mounties got to the scene, they found two pick-up trucks – one in the ditch and one on the property. As officers approached these vehicles, two people ran towards a residence, and a third got into one of the trucks and sped off into the field.

Police said an officer followed this truck onto Municipal Road 10E and a traffic stop was initiated; however, the driver continued to speed away. Due to public safety concerns, the officer did not initiate a chase.

RCMP added that as the suspect drove away, a number of items started to fall out of the truck, which were later determined to have been stolen.

Meanwhile, the officer who remained at the scene of the ditch crash approached the residence and told the two suspects they were under arrest, and asked them to leave the home and surrender to police. After a short period of time, the two people came out of the home and were taken into police custody.

Police later recovered the pick-up truck that had fled the scene in Bifrost-Riverton, and arrested a third suspect.

RCMP continued to investigate and determined that when the truck hit the ditch, the suspects were in the process of removing property from a stolen semi-trailer and bringing it to another residential property. The semi-trailer was being stored on a property in the RM of Rockwood.

Police added that the recovered pick-up truck was reported stolen from Selkirk on Oct. 17.

Mounties then executed a search warrant at the home where the truck hit the ditch, and seized a large amount of stolen property, including a pick-up truck, trailers, and a quad. The value of the stolen property is estimated to be more than $500,000.

One suspect, who is a 45-year-old woman, was released from custody with a court appearance scheduled for Feb. 5, 2024.

The other suspects – two men aged 43 and 44 – were taken into custody on a number of property-related offences.

Police continue to investigate.