BONNVILLE - The quick thinking of a local bank employee resulted in Bonnyville RCMP arresting and charging a frequent fraudster.
Damon Ollenberger, 34 of Edmonton, has been charged with identity fraud, three counts of identity theft, forgery, and two counts of using forged documents after getting caught red-handed trying to open a fraudulent bank account on Feb. 26.
According to Bonnyville RCMP Cst. Mackenzie Harris, police responded to the Lakeland Credit Union after staff reported someone they suspected of trying to open a fraudulent account.
“What happened on their end, which was excellent work by them, is one of the employees was dealing with this individual trying to open an account. They managed to recognize him because he had opened an account at the Cold Lake branch under a completely different name, they just happened to recognize his face,” detailed Harris.
The employee did "a little bit of digging," and confirmed the individual, later identified as Ollenberger, had in fact opened a bank account at their Cold Lake location.
While they waited for police to respond, staff stalled.
“I went in and located the person still speaking with staff and he provided me the identification for a man from Ontario. He had a driver’s license, birth certificate, a document from Service Canada with a social insurance number on it, as well as all of his information including his address, name, and whatnot, and a cheque written from the Government of Alberta,” Harris explained. “All of these documents appeared to be incredibly legitimate. They looked extremely real. If I didn’t get this initial call, just by looking at these documents I never would have guessed that they were fake, which they did turn out to be."
Harris said if the staff hadn’t tipped him off, it's unlikely they would have known these documents were fake.
Ollenberger confessed to using the fake IDs and making the cheques at home.
"We don't know the exact means of how he did so," noted Harris, adding the investigation into where the IDs were made is ongoing.
"We think it was part of a bigger operation that may be going on in Edmonton, because these were professionally made and he had multiple IDs for another victim, which he had used in Cold Lake."
Sgt. Kim Hillier noted Ollenberger isn't from the area, so it's likely "this has come from the city and they’re just using smaller towns to try and pass these IDs off a little easier."
“We now have a huge ongoing investigation where Cst. Harris will probably have to partner up with Edmonton Police Services and look at where we might be able to find the machines making these cheques,” she continued.
License plates become hot commodity
Local officers have received multiple complaints regarding stolen license plates.
Sometime between Feb. 20 and 23, Alberta license plate VZR414 was taken from a local resident's vehicle, followed by a separate call on Feb. 23.
“We had another on Feb. 23 who reported their (license plate) may have been stolen anywhere in Bonnyville or Cold Lake because they had made lots of stops,” Hillier said.
On that same day, Bonnyville RCMP were conducting patrols when they pulled over a blue Jeep.
“The female driving didn’t have any documentation that the license plate belonged to her, and it didn’t match the vehicle. Through some investigation the constable was able to determine the license plate had been stolen out of Bonnyville and the female was charged with possession of stolen property and issued multiple tickets,” outlined Hillier. “In this instance, the female had just recently bought this vehicle, but for whatever reason, chose not to register and insure it."
Cutting the power just didn't cut it
An attempted break and enter at the Red Rooster in town was cut short after the suspect learned it's not the same as in the movies.
“They didn’t get inside and they didn’t steal anything, however, the suspect did pre-plan this attempt by cutting the power off to the building, thereby shutting down their video system, but not their alarm system,” Hillier explained about the Feb. 24 incident.
“I’m assuming they thought when they cut the power, like in the movies the alarms would be cut off too, but as soon as the glass break alarm went they took off,” she added.
Within two minutes officers were on the scene, but the suspect was nowhere in sight.
Anyone who may have seen anything in the early hours of Feb. 24 is asked to contact local RCMP at 780-343-7200.
Break-ins believed to be linked
RCMP believe two break and enters that happened on the same night are connected.
A residential burglary alarm had police responding on Feb. 25 at 1:46 a.m. on Twp. Rd. 622.
"One of the constables arriving on scene witnessed a suspect vehicle driving into the homeowner and then taking off… They engaged in a pursuit, however, it was terminated for safety reasons,” noted Hillier, adding the vehicle was found later, but the driver wasn't.
That same day, a homeowner on vacation watched on their phone as two individuals in a green pick-up broke onto their property.
Nothing of any value was taken, however, police believe "this is the same vehicle members later pursued."