'Didn't seem real': Winnipeg man's stolen truck located, 2 arrested after confrontation in August
Ford F-250 stolen from front street in June
A Winnipeg man says he's going to be reunited with his truck soon, more than two months after it was stolen, thanks to a stranger he met at a gas station who saw it and notified police.
"It just didn't seem real to me," said Quinn LeBlanc. His burgundy Ford F-250 was stolen from in front of his home on Mulvey Avenue in June.
LeBlanc reported the truck as stolen and wasn't sure he'd ever see it again until two weeks ago, when he spotted it driving near Henderson Highway and Chief Peguis Trail and recognized it instantly.
LeBlanc followed the truck into a driveway and confronted the driver. But the driver denied the truck was stolen and drove away, ramming into LeBlanc's second vehicle and briefly dragging him in the process.
"Hindsight, you know, you think about it, it wasn't the right thing to do," LeBlanc told CBC News at the time.
LeBlanc posted about the incident and the stolen truck on Facebook in the hopes somebody would see the post and find the truck. Last Wednesday, he got a message that someone had seen his truck at a church on Gateway Road, but by the time he got there, it was gone.
Before he left the area, LeBlanc drove around a bit and stopped in a gas station parking lot. He struck up conversation with a group of young men sitting in a pair of diesel trucks and showed them a picture of the one he was looking for. They agreed they'd keep their eyes out and notify police if they spotted it.
Less than a week later, on Sunday, LeBlanc was at his family cottage near Lac du Bonnet, Man., when he saw a message from one of the men, Dylan Candelaria. Candelaria wrote that he'd seen the truck and was keeping an eye on it, and sent a picture to be sure.
"At first I thought, 'Ah, it's just another truck he sees,'" LeBlanc said. "Then I asked him, 'Is there damage at the driver's side bumper?' You know, where he hit me on the last altercation. And sure enough, he described all the damages that I thought would be on the vehicle."
Both men called police, LeBlanc said, and officers arrived shortly afterward and arrested a man and a woman.
Everybody's experienced some theft in their life, you know? It's about time they get arrested and caught.- Quinn LeBlanc
A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service said the police helicopter was first on the scene, around 6:15 p.m., and found the truck parked behind a home on Manitoba Avenue.
"AIR1 had been first to arrive on the scene and was able to find the vehicle before General Patrol arrived, ensuring that uniform members were able to safely box-in the vehicle and prevent it from fleeing," Const. Jay Murray wrote in an email.
A 31-year-old man from Winnipeg faces numerous charges, including possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, possession of a weapon, driving without a licence or with an invalid licence and failure to remain at the scene of an accident and exchange particulars.
He was also charged with assault with a weapon and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle in connection with LeBlanc's confrontation in August.
A 34-year-old woman was also arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine and Clonazepam, a popular sedative used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.
'He deserves every penny'
Now, LeBlanc said he's just waiting for police to finish their investigation before he gets his truck back.
"That's good. They got a couple of people, they were thieves," he said. "Everybody's experienced some theft in their life, you know? It's about time they get arrested and caught."
LeBlanc plans to meet with Candelaria to give him the $500 reward he'd offered to anybody who could help in the search.
"I'm just thankful to Dylan and his friends — they're young guys — for doing that," he said. "I really appreciate that, and he deserves every penny of that $500."