Grande Prairie RCMP has a suspect in custody after he attempted to steal a snowmobile inside a hanger that ended up catching fire on Thursday.
It all began when Mounties said someone walked in on a thief in a hangar on Range Road 63 near Grande Prairie at about 2 a.m. Thursday afternoon and called 911.
As police pulled up, Cpl. Troy Savinkoff says the suspect tried to make a getaway on, shall we say, an interesting choice for a stolen vehicle.
“When he saw police, he immediately ran to this snowmobile and tried to start it in order to make his getaway on it,” he told 660 NewsRadio.
“Now, obviously there’s not a lot of snow nowadays, but I guess theoretically, it could be mobile if he was able to get it moving.”
As officers made their arrest, fire quickly spread throughout the hangar igniting volatile accelerants.
While the fire was held under control and eventually put out by the local fire dept, Mounties estimate the damages to be in the millions.
“Inside that building was a helicopter as well as a motor home and a jet boat, among other items,” Savinkoff said.
Grande Prairie man 55-year-old Daryl David Claeys faces numerous criminal charges, including resisting arrest, possession of break-in tools, break and enter, and arson.
Mounties say Claeys was taken before a justice of the peace and remanded into custody.
His next court date is set for Sept. 4 at the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie.