In October 2022, members of the condo board for a complex in Southwest Calgary reached out to their Community Resource Officer (CRO) for help in dealing with problem neighbours who had reportedly been stealing packages and mail from other tenants in the building. 

According to police, the CRO worked with the complainants to bring forth evidence that could then be passed along to an investigative team. Eventually, enough evidence was garnered that a search warrant was granted and on Friday, December 2, the search was executed on the property, as well a vehicle. Two people were subsequently arrested and charged in relation to an identity and credit card manufacturing lab.

Items seized during the search warrant included four of the five packages reported stolen from other tenants, an identification and credit card forgery manufacturing lab, identification and credit cards in other people’s names, identification with the suspect’s photo on it, under assumed names, the upper receiver and barrel from a Glock handgun, as well as hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of mail from various businesses and residential buildings in Calgary.

“This is a great example of the community and officers working together to identify suspicious activity, leading to an investigation that uncovered a forgery lab that likely resulted in impacting hundreds of Calgarians. Thank you to the condo board and tenants for shedding light on the situation. By working together we can ensure unwanted and illicit activity is dealt with,” said District 1 Staff Sergeant Kurt Jacobs.

46-year-old Erin Lindsay Emerson, was charged with two counts of possession of stolen property, one count of possession of forgery instruments and one count of possession of forged documents. She will next appear in court next month.

While 38-year-old Steven Edward Hart was charged with one count of breaching a release order, two counts of possession of stolen property, one count of possession of forgery instruments and one count of possession of forged documents. He remains in custody and will appear in court later this month. 

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