SHELLBROOK – Police have recovered almost $100,000 worth of stolen Wayne Gretzky hockey memorabilia and charged a man after they raided a Shellbrook home Feb. 18.
RCMP say that they executed a search warrant at a home on the 400 block of 2nd Avenue East in Shellbrook and recovered the stolen items. They charged Derek Herzog, 41, from Shellbrook with possession of stolen property obtained by crime over $5,000.
“We began investigating this theft nearly a year ago and given the prevalence of online ‘buy and sell’ sales, we didn’t know for sure if any of the stolen memorabilia items would be recovered,” said S/Sgt. Shannon Haggarty, Shellbrook/Ahtahkakoop RCMP Detachment Commander.
“This is an excellent example of how investigations take time to complete. It was continued, dedicated efforts on the part of RCMP investigators that resulted in charges laid and ultimately, items recovered from multiple different theft investigations.”
Police recovered three-quarters of the stolen items and other stolen items including a snowmobile, a trailer and pick-up truck.
Between November 2021 and March 2022, approximately $100,000 worth of Wayne Gretzky hockey memorabilia were stolen from a home in the Shellbrook RCMP Detachment area. Police began investigating after getting the report in early April 2022.
The owners of the stolen property have all been informed of the recovery of the stolen items. RCMP say that there are still some memorabilia items outstanding at this time and they don’t have the specifics and say they continue to investigate.
Shellbrook/Ahtahkakoop RCMP thank the Community Safety Officer in Shellbrook for their assistance with this investigation.
Herzog will make his first appearance in Shellbrook court on April 4.
Email Lisa Joy at [email protected]
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