Inside, police found thousands of allegedly stolen items throughout the residence. On the first day of the operation, after seizing hundreds of items from the garage and yard alone, officers had filled two five-tonne trucks with seized items. On the second day, officers returned and seized hundreds more items requiring two more five-tonne trucks to transport the goods. It is alleged that the goods were stolen from homes, businesses and vehicles.
While the majority of the items are from Edmonton, some of the stolen goods are believed to be from incidents which occurred in surrounding areas. In addition numerous license plates, vehicle documents, and identification cards were also found in the home.
“This project took an incredible amount of resources. Police have put more than 1,100 hours of time into this project and more than 28 officers and civilian EPS exhibit technicians were involved in just the seizure portion of this operation,” explains Sgt. Joe Lewis of the West Division Criminal Investigation Section. “The sheer volume of items that were seized means that there will be many complainants who will receive good news and will be getting their stolen goods back. Police have already identified more than 50 individual complainants whose stolen items were seized.”
In addition to the stolen items whose original owners have been identified, police have also seized dozens of items whose owners have yet to be identified. These items include 24 men’s watches valued at $11,000; 13 sets of tires and rims valued at $15,000; 46 motorcycle helmets valued at $8,850; hundreds of home improvement store gift certificates valued at $13,000; 19 sets of golf clubs and five pallets of assorted liquor valued at $35,000. All values are approximate.
Jason Raymond Schell, 34, is charged with breach of conditions (x3), breach of firearm prohibition (x2), possession of weapon dangerous to public peace (x2), possession of stolen property over $5000 (x11), possession of stolen property under $5000 (x112) and possess credit card data (x81).
By the numbers:
- 20 EPS officers, eight civilian EPS members, three fish and wildlife officers and an AGLC official were involved in the seizure of goods.
- More than 1,100 hours of police time.
- 1,000 exhibits catalogued.
- 45 pallets of stolen goods seized.
Police continue to investigate this case. Anyone who believes they recognize goods which were stolen from them, or who has additional information about this case is asked to contact police at 780-423-4567or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm.