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Pair arrested with stolen vehicle in downtown Red Deer

Oct 31, 2017 | 11:32 AM

A man and woman from Red Deer are back in court this week after being arrested downtown in possession of a stolen vehicle.

Around 4:30 p.m. on October 22, RCMP were called to an apartment building near 55 Street and 45 Avenue after a report that a man and woman had exited a stolen SUV and entered an apartment by climbing onto the first floor balcony.

Mounties say they immediately found the pair barricaded inside the suite. The area was contained and the suspects surrendered without incident shortly thereafter.

Shae-Lee Lynn Phillips, 20, faces charges of possession of stolen property over $5000 and failure to comply with conditions. She was scheduled to appear in Red Deer court Tuesday morning. 

Rory Richard Forslund, 32, is charged with possession of stolen property over $5000 and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning.

RCMP say the black Hyundai Tucson had been reported stolen out of Olds on October 15 after it was left running and unlocked. The vehicle was reported to be involved in several incidents between October 15 and 21 in Red Deer and central Alberta, including dangerous driving complaints, an intentional collision and two gas and dash files.

“It is not uncommon to see stolen vehicles used in a number of criminal and dangerous ways before they are recovered, and often vehicles are passed from criminal to criminal,” says Cpl. Karyn Kay with the Red Deer RCMP. “In this series of incidents, the public was placed at risk numerous times over the course of several days as the unknown driver(s) of the vehicle engaged in highly dangerous driving, including driving into oncoming traffic at high speed in one instance.”

Red Deer RCMP continue to investigate and remind citizens to never leave vehicles unlocked and idling, as it provides easy opportunities for opportunistic thieves to endanger the community.

Phillips was already facing charges from a series of events nine days earlier in the Sundre, Rocky Mountain House and Sylvan Lake areas that included the police-involved shooting of a suspect. She was already scheduled to appear Tuesday morning on counts of possession of stolen property and uttering threats related to that case.

Forslund, meantime, was jsut released from jail Oct. 13 after serving a 210 day sentence for theft under $5,000, dangerous driving and breach of conditions in relation to a break and enter and assault from Aug. 2016 in Red Deer.