Truck with firearm inside found after reported stolen
Truck spotted driving on creek in Petersfield area; 29-year-old man faces charges
A Clandeboye man tried to chase down his stolen truck — with a firearm inside — after it was taken from a parking lot in Selkirk.
A 29-year-old man faces charges after the truck was spotted driving on a creek in the Petersfield area on Monday, leading to his arrest.
James Hobden was out checking traps on Sunday and stopped in at a bakery before heading home shortly before 5:30 p.m.. He says he left his 2016 GMC Sierra running and was inside for about three minutes.
The police officer told me that he was going to handcuff me and throw me in jail if I went any further with chasing the guy.- James Hobden
"I went outside after buying that, and my truck was spinning tires and everything," Hobden said.
He said the back of the truck hit him as he tried to stop it.
"I took off yelling and running and everything, telling somebody to help, help me, somebody stole my truck."
Hobden had a firearm with a trigger lock in the truck, as well as a hunting knife, a quad, paperwork, money, credit cards, and a chequebook.
"It's kind of my livelihood that trapping and that there, and everything's gone, just like that, in a matter of three minutes.
"I couldn't sleep last night because all I seen was my truck, running away."
The game is afoot
The next day, Hobden got a call that someone had spotted his truck in Selkirk. He gathered some people and went out searching again. He says he saw a police vehicle drive by with the lights on.
He tried to get out of the way but part of his stolen truck hit the vehicle he was driving. Hobden turned his vehicle around and continued to chase as the truck drove across a field and then down onto a creek, at which point he turned back.
"The police officer told me that he was going to handcuff me and throw me in jail if I went any further with chasing the guy but I didn't listen to him and I kept on chasing the guy," he said.
RCMP found the stolen truck after it was spotted driving on a creek in the Petersfield area.
RCMP Police Dog Services were called in, and Clandeboye School went into lockdown as a precaution.
Police found the truck around 1:30 p.m. and arrested the driver.
The 29-year-old man from the RM of St. Andrews remains in custody awaiting charges.
Everything was gone
Although his truck has been found, Hobden said everything that was in it — including his gun, quad, credit cards and cheques — has been lost.
"I paid a lot of money for everything that was in there, and for me to see something disappear from under my eyes, it's too hard to do that."
A spokesperson for Manitoba Public Insurance said as long as Hobden had up-to-date coverage, he would be covered for the theft of the vehicle, even though it was left running.
"We don't punish people for making bad decisions," said Brian Smiley.
As for the items in the truck, everything except the quad would be covered under homeowner's insurance. The quad would need its own theft coverage, Smiley said.
With files from Erin Brohman