Pembina Valley man facing charges after gun fired at suspected thieves

A 66-year-old Pembina Valley man is facing weapons charges after RCMP say he fired shots at people accused of stealing from his property twice in one day.

RCMP say four people went to a rural private property in the RM of Dufferin Saturday and then returned later in the day with two vehicles. The vehicles were later confirmed to have been stolen from Watrous, Sask., RCMP said in a news release Tuesday.

The property owner was alerted to the activity by a motion camera and went to the area, where he saw the suspects transferring fuel from a portable container into one of the stolen vehicles.

The man confronted the suspects with a firearm and fired shots towards the vehicles, RCMP said.

Three suspects remained at the scene until officers arrived and took them into custody. Various items believed to have been stolen from the property were found in the back of the truck. A fourth suspect fled the scene in the other vehicle, which was located the next morning in a field a few kilometres away.

Three suspects — a 29-year-old from the RM of Hanover, a 47-year-old from the RM of Emerson-Franklin, and a 41-year-old woman from the RM of Emerson-Franklin — were charged with numerous theft, trespassing and mischief offenses. The younger man was also charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. 

The two men were both remanded into custody. The woman was released on an undertaking.

The property owner was also arrested at the scene and charged with careless use of a firearm, using a firearm in the commission of an offence and discharging a firearm in a reckless manner. He was released on an undertaking.