‘Cold’ case in Alberta woods: Police nab frigid, fleeing firearms suspect

There was no need to yell ‘Freeze!’

When RCMP tracked down a man suspected of firearms violations who had dashed into woods north of Drayton Valley, Alta., on Friday, temperatures in the area had dipped toward -40 C.

In a media release, Mounties said they had received a report of a suspicious truck in the ditch on Highway 22 near Township Road 502.

When officers arrived at the scene about 10 kilometres north of the town of about 7,300, the driver had already fled the scene.

Police searched the abandoned truck, which sported a licence plate and a VIN number that didn’t match, and found a sawed-off shotgun, bear mace and ID of a person known to them.

Officers and a K-9 unit tracked down the suspect in a wooded area less than a kilometre from the highway and arrested him.

The 41-year-old man from St. Albert was subsequently treated for hypothermia and charged with multiple weapons and controlled substance charges as well as multiple probation violations.