Police from Calgary Police Services (CPS) and the RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT) raided a home on a property east of Airdrie April 12.
According to a release issued April 13 by CPS, the raid netted a quantity of stolen property, including vehicles, motorcycles, dirt bikes and license plates. Police also seized a number of weapons and drugs. Investigators believe the property was being used as a storage facility for stolen property.
The raid, which included the execution of a search warrant, took place at approximately 5 a.m. at a 12-acre property on Range Road 291 and Yankee Valley Boulevard. Three people were arrested on scene without incident.
David Jonathan Brazeau, 26, of Airdrie is charged with numerous weapons, drugs and stolen property offences.
Justin Christopher Paquette, 25, of no fixed address in Calgary is charged with numerous drug and stolen property offences. Paquette has also been charged with being unlawfully at large stemming from an earlier arrest.
Matthew Brandon Cooke, 26, of Calgary faces outstanding warrants charges.
Members of the Calgary Search and Rescue Association (CALSARA) assisted police in a 12-hour search of the property. The search included a number of outbuildings and vehicles. Dog teams from the RCMP Police Dog Service also assisted in the raid and search of the property.
Rob Christensen, owner of Goodman Roofing in Airdrie, lives on a neighbouring property. Christensen said he and his wife were awakened at approximately 5:30 a.m. when their dogs started barking and growling.
“We looked out our front windows and I noticed some people out there (on the adjacent property),” he said. “I went downstairs and I had just installed a security camera at the front gate. From my phone I can tilt and pan it so I did that and that’s when I saw two officers with two guys flat down on the road.
“They had taken off running from the property down the ditch in front of our place but the cops had caught up with them.”
Christensen said he had turned the video surveillance footage over to CPS.
The stolen vehicles at the property included a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta, a 2004 Honda CRF50 dirt bike and a 1999 Pace Arrow cargo trailer. Police will attempt to return the stolen property to its rightful owners, according to the CPS release.
Christensen said he had not had any issues with the people residing on the property before.
“It’s one of the original properties in the area. The owner hasn’t lived there for probably four or five years. He’s an elderly gentleman in his 80s. I think his wife’s son was renting the place but I don’t know if he’d rented it out to some other guys who had put up a little shop in the back.
“The police told me they were looking for weapons and a known chop-shop – (the residents) were taking stolen vehicles and parting them out and so forth.”
The seized weapons include a 22-calibre rifle with a homemade suppressor – also known as a silencer – as well as two pellet guns, more than 100 rounds of ammunition, a collapsible baton and bear spray.
CPS said heroin with a street value of $575 was seized, along with $2,680 worth of marijuana and $240 worth of crystal methamphetamine.
Officials from the City of Airdrie were called in to assess the residence on the property and have deemed it to be inhabitable, according to the CPS release.
Brazeau will appear in Calgary Criminal Court on May 9, while Cooke will appear in the same court April 21. A court date for Paquette has not yet been determined. It is unknown at this time if they remain in custody.
If you have any information about this or any other crime, call your local RCMP Detachment or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at tipsubmit.com
