All but one of seven vehicles stolen from Patkar's lot have been recovered in a heist that's also connected to suspected prowlings and a theft at the Best Western hotel parking lot.
Patrick van den Hadelkamp was surprised to find seven vehicles missing from his used vehicle dealership lot at 601Main Avenue East when he arrived at work early in the morning of March 7.
The office had been broken into and vehicle keys and a dealer plate were stolen, according to police.
Van den Hadelkamp credits the community for the quick recovery of most of the vehicles.
"Within hours some of them were found. This town is actually really good about letting the cops know about things that are going on," he said.
Throughout the day, the Sundre RCMP detachment received several calls from citizens about abandoned vehicles in and around the town, according to Sundre RCMP Cpl. Joe Mandel.
A total of five of the seven vehicles stolen from Patkar were recovered that same day, Mandel added.
On March 11, a sixth vehicle was recovered in Calgary by Calgary Police Service.
According to Mandel, a licence plate that had been stolen from a Sundre Best Western employee's vehicle was recovered with the stolen vehicle.
The same day Hadelkamp reported the stolen vehicles, Best Western staff reported to police that there had been a couple of vehicles driving suspiciously in their lot.
A male was witnessed exiting one of the vehicles and appeared to be checking vehicle doors, staff told police.
A review of Best Western's closed caption TV (CCTV) footage confirmed that two of the vehicles captured on the footage were ones stolen from the Patkar lot, according to police.
There is still one vehicle unaccounted for out of the original seven that had been removed from the Patkar lot, which is an unregistered black 2014 GMC Sierra pickup truck with a vehicle identification number of 3GTU2UEC2EG298446.
Police say evidence recovered at the initial scene is still being evaluated but there are no suspects in the thefts at this time.
Van den Hadelkamp said the vehicle thefts from his lot happened sometime between 6 p.m. March 6 and 7 a.m. March 7.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact the Sundre RCMP detachment at 403-638-3675. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222- TIPS (8477).
All information will be kept confidential. Crime Stoppers may pay a reward for information that leads to an arrest, recovery of stolen property, seizure of illegal drugs and the location of wanted persons.
