Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Alberta man, winner of wire recycling raffle, charged in copper wire theft

Two southern Alberta residents, one of whom recently won hockey tickets in a raffle put on by a wire recycling business, are facing several charges related to wire thefts from oil lease sites northeast of Calgary.
RCMP cruiser.

On Dec. 16, Mounties with the RCMP’s southern Alberta crime reduction unit were investigating recent copper wire thefts from oil lease sites in the Three Hills and Hanna area, around 90 minutes out of Calgary. Officers saw a man and a woman enter one such site east of Three Hills, and as a covert police vehicle drove toward them, both suspects fled.

Officers confirmed wire had been cut and removed from the site, amounting to about $7,000 in damage. They later again evaded police after an officer pulled them over, speeding off as the officer exited their vehicle.

Mounties later arrested Tyree Ewing, 23, and Wanda Charlton, 51 — of Three Hills and Hanna, respectively — finding them attempting to sell copper wire at a wire recycling business in southeast Calgary, Bare Wire Recycling.

Bare Wire regularly runs contest draws for its clients, with the prize being Calgary Flames tickets. The admission fee? Bringing in 100 pounds of insulated wire for recycling.

Ewing won one of the recent contests at Bare Wire, winning tickets to see the Flames’ pre-season bout with the Winnipeg Jets in October, confirmed the business’s general manager, Taylor Cowley.

“At the time, there was no indication that anything was on the bad side,” said Cowley.

And that was the case until Dec. 16, when Cowley saw the two suspects being arrested outside his shop.

“The person has a vehicle, they have registration, they have all the proper identification to be able to sell scrap metal so, you know, he got entered into the draw and I guess he got the ticket,” he said, adding Bare Wire will continue to run similar contests, but in the future, will be a little more careful with the prize.

“We’ll maybe do a little bit more planning when we’re doing this to make sure they go to proper businesses that are electricians and stuff like that,” he said.

Ewing and Charlton are charged with theft under $5,000, flight from police, mischief exceeding $5,000 and possession of break-in tools. Ewing faces three further charges for failing to comply with a police order and unlawful possession of both methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Both are scheduled to appear in court in Drumheller on Feb. 18. They’ve been released from police custody.

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