LA RONGE — The mayor of La Ronge is upset about an alleged looting incident in the community during the wildfire evacuations.
"It's not right when people take advantage of a situation," Mayor Joe Hordyski told Â鶹ÊÓƵ. "They should be held accountable for it."
The RCMP stated in an email to Â鶹ÊÓƵ that "the La Ronge RCMP proactively patrolled the La Ronge area during evacuations to deter any such behaviour."
According to police, on June 4 at approximately 11 a.m., Saskatchewan RCMP received a report that a vehicle had been stolen from a home in La Ronge. The vehicle was located later that day at a checkpoint on Highway 2. As a result of further investigation, Waskesiu RCMP officers located and seized a laptop and package from the vehicle. They also found mail that allowed them to connect the recovered items to a theft reported in La Ronge on June 3.
Two male occupants of the vehicle were arrested.
Following further investigation, a 25-year-old man and a 39-year-old man, both from La Ronge, are each charged with two counts of possession of property obtained by crime and one count of possessing break-in instruments.
Additionally, the 25-year-old is also charged with two counts of failing to comply with a probation order.
Both suspects remain in custody awaiting their next appearance in La Ronge provincial court.
Hordyski said this incident is the only one he knows of related to the wildfire evacuations.
"I don't know of any other case that I'm aware of other than that," he said. "We get break and enters on an ongoing basis. So, to me, I don't see it as something out of the ordinary... Certainly, it's discouraging when people are away and don't have an option of supervising their property."
Hordyski acknowledged there was a high RCMP presence during the wildfire evacuations to mitigate the risk of looting.
"They were patrolling 24-seven," he said. "That would be a deterrent for more incidents to happen."
