Edmonton Police are now in possession of thousands of stolen items, and are asking Edmontonians to help them find the rightful owners, after investigators executed a search warrant in late August.

Police said on August 29, 20 officers searched a home in the Cumberland area of northwest Edmonton, and found inside thousands of stolen items.

Over two days, four five-tonne trucks were filled to transport the stolen items from the home; it’s believed the variety of property had been stolen from homes, businesses and vehicles.

Inside, investigators said the variety of stolen items was organized as if they were on display in a department store.

“You’d go into, say, the kitchen area, and there was all the liquor set up together,” Acting Staff Sgt. Kevin Fald said. “Then you had the shoe aisle, electronics sections.

“I can say in 20 years I’ve never seen a collection of stolen property warehoused like this.”
In addition, police said many of the items were believed to have been stolen in Edmonton, but some were stolen from the surrounding area, and it’s believed they took place within the last five years, but investigators admitted the time frame could be wider.

“These are kind of a combination of everything and anything,” Acting Staff Sgt. Fald said. “From commercial break and enters, industrial, residential break and enters.”

In the end, 28 EPS officers and civilian staff worked more than 1,100 hours to investigate the case.

So far, more than 50 people have been identified as owners of some of the stolen property, the rest of the property includes:

  • 24 men’s watches (estimated $11,000 value)
  • 13 sets of tires and rims (estimated $15,000 value)
  • 46 motorcycle helmets (estimated $8,850 value)
  • Hundreds of gift certificates for home improvement stores valued at about $13,000
  • 19 sets of golf clubs, five pallets of assorted liquor valued at about $35,000

As a result of the seizure, Jason Raymond Schell, 34, is facing 216 charges including several counts each of breach of conditions, breach of firearm prohibition, possession of weapon dangerous to public peace, eleven counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, 112 counts of possession of stolen property under $5,000, and 81 counts of possession of credit card data.

Anyone who believes their property may have been part of the seizure is asked to call the Edmonton Police Service non-emergency line at 780-423-4567 or #377 on a mobile phone.

With files from Dan Grummett