CAMROSE, Alta. – A smooth-talking thief with an eye for high-quality saddles is criss-crossing Alberta, stealing from horse owners and rural businesses, RCMP say.
In connection with recent reports of theft, police are looking for Dale Arnold Adamkewich, who escaped from a British Columbia jail earlier this spring.
A thief has been targeting businesses, said Cpl. Vaughn Christensen of the Didsbury RCMP.
“He is very, very smooth,” said Duane Warren, owner of Tall Horse Saddlery and Western Wear in Edmonton, who had contact with the dishonest individual.
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The thief brought Warren two saddles to be cleaned over the following two weeks. During the conversation, he hinted he may want to sell the saddles.
Warren said he didn’t suspect anything because he figured few criminals would be willing to leave a saddle in the store for two weeks.
“The guy is really nice, really nice,” said Warren.
It wasn’t until Warren saw a small metal plate on one of the saddles that he suspected the goods were stolen. A few days earlier he had received a call from Candace Villett, who told him all her tack had been stolen. One of the identifying marks was the metal plate.
Standard line
Villett, who works with the Alberta SPCA, wasn’t the first to get her tack stolen. One of the thief’s standard lines is that he is looking for a place to board a horse for his daughter, said Villett. He gets a tour of the farm, finds out when the owners won’t be home and later cleans out the barn.
“He’s real brassy,” she said.
Christensen said the thief sometimes passes himself off as a TransAlta or Fish and Wildlife employee. With a phony purchase order number, he will steal goods from small businesses.
“He takes anything from teapots to rototillers to tack,” said Christensen.
RCMP haven’t been able to catch the suspect, who is described as 45 years old, six-foot three and 215 pounds.
“He’s all over the place. One day he’s in High River, outside Calgary, and the next day he’s in Redwater,” said Christensen. “He certainly doesn’t want to get caught.”
