COCHRANE— Cochrane RCMP recently laid charges on an 18-year-old man who went on a crime spree through the Cochrane area.
On Dec. 27, Cochrane RCMP received multiple reports in the Springbank area.
Complaints came in regarding a vehicle theft, multiple vehicle break-ins and a break and enter on a residence.
While responding to those reports, Cochrane RCMP was able to locate and arrest the suspect.
“Our Cochrane Crime Reduction Unit was following up with that string of crimes and ultimately, with the residents calling in quite quickly and us being able to get out there quite quickly, we were able to locate and arrest William Rider of Calgary,” said RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff.
At the time Rider was arrested and charged for the alleged crimes, scheduled for court and released.
A few days later, Rider was arrested again.
“It wasn’t that much later, on Jan. 7, that we responded to another complaint of a vehicle theft in progress," Savnikoff said.
On Jan. 7, reports came in from the Quigley area, of a vehicle theft during which the owner of the vehicle was dragged a short distance when confronting the individual attempting to steal his truck.
The suspect was able to flee the area inside the stolen vehicle.
“The owner had tried to confront the person who was stealing his vehicle and was actually dragged a short distance. My understanding is that he received some minor injuries but fortunately nothing too serious,” Savinkoff said.
Cochrane RCMP notified the Calgary Police Service, whose members were able to locate the truck at a residence in Calgary. Inside the residence, police located Rider.
“We were able to coordinate with the Calgary Police Service and actually locate the vehicle that went to a residence in Calgary and ultimately— Thanks to the help of Calgary Police— We were able to recover the truck and, lo-and-behold, arrest William Rider again for those offences.”
Savinkoff said there are three criteria that are considered when deciding whether or not to remand an individual for court— Is the individual likely to show up for a scheduled court appearance and do they have a history of being convicted with failure to appear, will the individual commit further offences, and is the suspect a danger to the community.
When considering those three criteria, the decision was made to schedule Rider for court in the future and release him.
Rider is currently facing charges of theft of a motor vehicle, mischief, robbery, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and numerous breaches of condition charges with a charge of break and enter and theft pending.
“Mr. Rider, right now, is facing many charges for the two separate instances that involve multiple files including, and most importantly, the robbery where he could have seriously injured someone while stealing that vehicle,” he said.
Rider was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday (Jan. 13).
“It’s really important for us as RCMP and trained investigators to realize that a significant amount of our crime is committed by a select few, and if we can hone in on those few and properly track and properly enforce them it’s going to be the most effective way to reduce crimes in our area,” Savinkoff said.
Many RCMP detachments operate under the idea, which is borne out by police data, that 90 percent of crime is committed by 10 per cent of offenders.
Savinkoff said that rule holds true for the Cochrane RCMP, but Cochrane’s circumstance is a little different due to its proximity to nearby communities.
“Cochrane has a bit of a unique circumstance. We do have, what I would call prolific offenders who do live in our community, but surprisingly the number of those who live in Cochrane is quite low,” he said. “What we find is that we are hugely affected by neighbouring communities and the prolific offenders working out of those areas. We found that it’s through strong partnerships with the neighbouring police forces, such as Calgary Police as well as other jurisdictions nearby— Airdrie For Instance— That’s how we’re going to be most effective."
