This inside of the Grant Park Liquor Mart location is shown in this March 2019 file photo. (CHRISD.CA)
Six people have been arrested following a brazen theft at a Portage la Prairie Liquor Mart on Thursday evening.
Shortly before 6 p.m., a group of people wearing Halloween masks entered the store on Saskatchewan Avenue and began filling backpacks with bottles of alcohol. They walked out without paying and fled in a white pickup truck. Witnesses caught the plate number of the truck and called police.
RCMP began patrols in the area and notified other police agencies. An officer with the Manitoba First Nation Police Service spotted the vehicle and pulled it over just north of Portage la Prairie on Road 71 North and Road 35 West.
Additional officers arrived on scene and found more than 40 bottles of alcohol in the vehicle and truck box, as well as the Halloween masks.
Four adults and two youths are facing charges of disguise with intent to commit and offence and theft under $5,000.
“These arrests will make a difference and were possible because the public immediately alerted police and provided officers with detailed information about the suspects and the vehicle,” said Sgt. Paul Manaigre of the Manitoba RCMP.
“We recognize that the increase of liquor store thefts is concerning to the public and we want to assure Manitobans that our officers will continue to rapidly respond and to lay charges against those responsible.”
