EDMONTON -- style="margin-left:3.0pt;"> The arrest of two people for the alleged theft of five shotguns, ammunition and a spotting scope has led to the recovery of a stolen turtle.
It started on Oct. 8 in the parking lot of a Vegreville hotel. According to police, the owner of a truck caught a man and a woman breaking into it to steal the guns and the man brandished a knife at him before the pair fled the area in a silver Toyota Corolla, RCMP said.
Police were able to identify the car from surveillance footage, and they found it minutes after the theft.
The man and the woman were arrested at a Vegreville apartment complex shortly after.
A search of the apartment was conducted, and while police did not find the stolen guns, they did find property from a residential break-in two days earlier, including a pet turtle named Myrtle, who was found unharmed.
Myrtle and the rest of the stolen property were returned to her family.
Brendan John Lebid, 37, and Amanda Lee Hawke, 38, both of Vegreville have each been charged with theft of firearms with violence and theft over $5,000.
Lebid has also been charged with five counts of possession of a firearm while prohibited and two counts of stolen property.
Hawke has also been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and two counts of possession of stolen property.
