By Erika Rolling

RCMP

Five people arrested following property crime initiative around Grimshaw

Mar 21, 2024 | 12:32 PM

Within a span of a few days, Mounties with the Western Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit was able to arrest and charge multiple individuals through what it calls proactive enforcement.

The WAD CRU was in the Town of Grimshaw in response to community concerns involving property crime.

Mounties attempted a traffic stop on March 12, 2024 on a suspicious vehicle, which fled from police. It was located a short time later and the driver, who was wearing body armor, was taken into custody.

A Peace River resident, 38-year-old Dustin St. Laurent, is facing 19 charges including:

• flight from police
• dangerous operation of a motor vehicle
• multiple counts of failing to comply with court orders
• multiple firearms-related offences

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An hour after St. Laurent’s arrest, CRU members saw a stolen vehicle driving on 52 Avenue in Grimshaw. They followed the vehicle to a local gas station where a male occupant was arrested. Police say the vehicle was stolen from Peace River in February 2024.

Another Peace River resident, 26-year-old Ray Sawan, faces multiple charges including:

• two counts of possession of property obtained by crime
• fraudulent concealment
• possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
• possession of a controlled substance

On March 13, 2024, officers were conducting a traffic stop where a male occupant, 30-year-old Grimshaw resident Scott Parker, was taken into police custody on multiple arrest warrants.

The same day, another suspicious vehicle was spotted and RCMP attempted a traffic stop on Highway 2. The vehicle fled at a very high rate of speed and surveillance units followed and arrested the driver. An MD of Peace resident, 31-year-old Christopher Valin, faces charges of:

• flight from police
• dangerous operation of a motor vehicle
• operating an uninsured motor vehicle

He was released on conditions and is to be in Peace River court on May 6, 2024.

On March 14, 2024, RCMP located another stolen vehicle in Grimshaw. The vehicle was stolen from Grande Prairie in December 2023. Forty-three-year-old Jesse Jackson of Grimshaw was charged with:

• two counts of possession of property obtained by crime
• fraudulent concealment
• operating an uninsured motor vehicle

St. Laurent, Sawan, Jackson, and Parker were all taken before a Justice of the Peace. St. Laurent, Sawan, and Jackson were remanded into custody, Parker was released. All four are to be in Peace River court on March 25, 2024.