With the assistance of the RCMP Auto Theft North, EPS dismantled a large chop shop in earlier this summer after executing a search warrant on Car Masters Collision Ltd. in northeast Edmonton.
“We believe there are more than 140 complainants in this file,” says Dwayne Karpo with the EPS Auto Theft Unit. “Many of the recovered items were reported to various policing agencies.”
Three individuals have been charged in relation to this file: Allan McKay, 53, Crystal McKay 35, Amanda Stepien, 33.
The charges include:
Possession of stolen property over $5,000 (global charge for 142 complainants)
Possession of stolen property under $5,000
Possession of property for purposes of trafficking
Alter or remove VIN
Fraud over $5,000
Unauthorized possession of prohibited device
Participation in criminal organization
“We believe this was a highly organized chop shop,” says Karpo, “This was a complex investigation and the EPS used significant internal and external resources to identify all of the vehicle components.”
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is a not-for-profit trade association that represents a majority of insurance products in Canada. With their expertise, the IBC assisted the EPS to identify the stolen vehicles and auto parts in this complex file.
"The IBC commends the Edmonton Police Service for its focus on organized auto crime groups. We were pleased to provide assistance in this investigation in support of our law enforcement partners,” says Bill Adams, Vice President, Western Region, IBC.
After a lengthy process of sorting through all of the various vehicle pieces, police discovered the following:
Theft of auto files reported:
Edmonton Police Service files: 87
RCMP files: 68
Calgary Police files: 6
Estimated value of vehicles: more than $7 Million*.
The most expensive vehicle was 2012 Dodge 3500 estimated value: $109,000.
*The value is an estimate based on the year, make and model of vehicles.
Vehicles Recovered in part or whole:
Vehicles: 159 (141 reported stolen)
Stolen vehicles recovered by make:
- Ford: 28 Dodge: 79
GMC/Chevrolet: 13
Miscellaneous Vehicles: 19
Trailer: 1
Heavy Equipment (bobcat): 1
Stolen licence plates recovered: 20 (13 EPS files, 7 RCMP files)
Background
On Thursday, June 1, 2017, police conducted a traffic stop on a 2012 Dodge Ram truck with a flat deck trailer in the area of 121 Avenue and 76 Street. Police discovered the trailer was stolen and the truck was displaying an unauthorized licence plate.
A subsequent search warrant was executed on a business and police recovered another stolen 2013 Dodge Ram truck (with an estimated value of $80,000) in the shop that was in the process of being dismantled.