Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
KINGS CROWN FEELS LIKE SHARKS HOME L.A. advances to face Chicago or Detroit B4
Sheryl Crow undergoes country conversion C7
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
DOG GONE RAIN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013
Fugitive surrenders to police BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF
safety division of Municipal Affairs, with concerns expressed to go into a report to be presented to the Municipal Affairs minister in September. Speaking to the Advocate, AFCA president Brian Cornforth said fire departments across the province are concerned that a move is being made away from a system he says is working reasonably well. “Dispatch amalgamation has caused some anxiety because of the fact that today we’re very fluidly integrated in the way we do the transmission of data between one dispatch centre . . . that might dispatch police, fire and EMS simultaneously,” he said. The province announced earlier this year that it would be moving to a system where all ambulance dispatches will be made from centres in Edmonton, Calgary and Peace River by the end of the year. Currently there are 14 dispatch systems in the province.
After two weeks, two armed standoffs and a carjacking, Red Deer Mounties got their suspect. Garnet Colby Mcinnes, 22, of Red Deer surrendered peacefully early Tuesday morning after a four-hour armed standoff at a Lacombe residence. Police seized several firearms during their investigation of McInnes. He faces numerous charges including kidnapping, robbery, extortion and forcible confinement after an armed robbery and armed standoff in the Highland Green area of Red Deer on May 14. Garnet Mcinnes “It is very good news we located and arrested Mcinnes,” said Cpl. Sarah Knelsen, Red Deer City RCMP. “It’s good for the community, it’s good for surrounding communities. “We were happy to get those (firearms) off the streets because they are some powerful weapons.” Monday at 10:30 p.m. the Red Deer RCMP General Investigation Section acted on information McInnes was at a Red Deer residence and awaiting a ride to Lacombe. After locating a vehicle containing Mcinnes in Red Deer, GIS members followed the vehicle to a Lacombe residence. Red Deer RCMP, Alberta Law Enforcement Team’s Red Deer Combined Special Forces Unit and Lacombe Police Service set up containment around the residence. The RCMP South Emergency Response Team was contacted and deployed to Lacombe. As members of ERT were setting up their positions, Mcinnes exited the residence and peacefully surrendered to police. Several other occupants of the residence were arrested without incident. At least one had an outstanding warrant. Police also seized several weapons through the course of their investigation and allege Mcinnes was in possession of these weapons. Mcinnes’ arrest stems from a May 14 incident that started with an armed robbery at an apartment building on Parke Avenue in Red Deer. The suspects involved fled to a residence on Halman Crescent. The suspects refused to come out of the residence. The area was contained and cordoned off and ERT was called to the scene. Numerous people were taken out of the residence, some of whom were suspects in the armed robbery. Then on May 15, police said Mcinnes was involved in a carjacking incident near Blackfalds.
Please see DISPATCH on Page A2
Please see FUGITIVE on Page A2
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Listening to the thunder boom away outside, Laura Cadriní’s Jack Russell terrier, Jadzia, watches the rain pound down on Ross Street Tuesday afternoon. Jadzia can often be seen keeping a look out from the table at the window in the La Petite Jaune Fleur Flower shop while Cadrin serves customers and creates floral displays.
Move toward amalgamation creating anxiety: fire chiefs BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF The planned consolidation of ambulance dispatch services in the province could have collateral impacts on all emergency services, says the president of the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association. Gathering in Red Deer for their annual conference, approximately 200 fire chiefs from across Alberta heard Tuesday that the government is seeking their input on how the centralizing of ambulance dispatch into three centres Brian Cornforth will impact their work. Consultations with municipalities and emergency personnel are ongoing, said Ivan Moore, assistant deputy minister in the public
AMBULANCE DISPATCH
Woman jailed for running over mother with pickup BY LAURA TESTER ADVOCATE STAFF A long-time drug addict who seriously injured her mother with a pickup truck last summer was sentenced to 46 months in jail on Tuesday. Red Deer provincial court judge Jim Mitchell sentenced Stacey Leigh Stewart, 33, for an assault involving her mother Diane Stewart on May 2, 2012 and then ramming a pickup truck into her mother a few
PLEASE RECYCLE
months later on Aug. 7. Crown prosecutor Maurice Collard called Stewart a “drug-fuelled zombie” who has brought trauma to her mother on a number of occasions. Court heard how Stewart had assaulted her mother in the course of getting into her mother’s truck on May 2, 2012. She then drove in a dangerous manner through rural areas east of Red Deer. Mitchell said that Stewart had been driving at speeds of 130-150 km/h on Hwy 12 and on two gravel range roads.
WEATHER
INDEX
60% Thunderstorms. High 15.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D6 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C7 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
RCMP were alerted and police caught up with Stewart. They tried to stop her, but she continued on. At one point, she stopped the truck and turned it around and then drove erratically towards police. The police pursuit was stopped and shortly after, the truck was spotted in Stettler. “She was found to be dishevelled and incoherent — intoxicated by cocaine,” said Mitchell.
Please see STEWART on Page A2
BUSINESS
LOCAL
CONFIDENCE ON AN UPSWING
FRIENDSHIP CENTRE STILL FACES HURDLES
Canadians are feeling a little more positive about the economy and their personal prospects, a new consumer confidence survey from the Conference Board suggests. B1
The proposed Asooahum Centre must pass a few hurdles before opening its doors in Red Deer. C1
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