Thief caught red-handed, Alta. ranchers allege

A father and son in rural Alberta are responsible for the dramatic arrest of an alleged thief they'd been after for months, RCMP say.

Property owner Kris Lynch and his father Timapprehended a man Wednesday after the younger Lynch returned to his ranch in Trochu, southeast of Red Deer, and saw familiar tire tracks leading to his fuel storage tanks.

The tracks looked similar to those found after previous fuel thefts at the ranch, Lynch said.

Lynch called police and then came upon a man in a truck at the fuel site.

"He was dumb enough to steal fuel in the middle of the day from a farmer," Kris Lynch told CBC News.

Moments later, Lynch's father arrived and the suspect panicked, Lynch said.

"The guy freaks out, puts it in gear and floors it," Lynch said. "So I jump on the truck and grab the steering wheel."

The father and soneventually got the man out of the truck and tied him up with a lasso from their barn, he said.

"The guy was wearing pyjama pants and he didn't have underwear and his pants ended up sliding right down to his ankles," said Lynch.

Multiple theft charges

He said he and his father let the man, "sit there bare-assed in the snow till the cops showed up."

Brandon Fox faces charges in connectionwith the alleged fuel theft and the alleged theft of seven stolen cars, an all-terrain vehicle and copper wire found after the search of a property in Rumsey, said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.

The truck Fox was driving when apprehended also was allegedly stolen.

"That certainly helps us, in the long, run trying to solve some of the other crimes," said Webb.

Fox has yet to stand trial and has not been convicted on any of the theft charges.

Webb also cautioned against citizens trying to apprehend anyone during the commission of a crime.

The Lynchs, who own the local tow truck company, spent the remainder of the week towing the stolen vehicles from Rumsey to the RCMP compound.