A federal prisoner who escaped from an Indigenous healing lodge in Edmonton at the end of May was taken back into custody on Thursday with help from the RCMP and Edmonton police.
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) asked the RCMP for help Thursday after officers found a suspicious Mazda sedan leaving Beaver County in the area where a stolen truck was last seen.
RCMP said the vehicle fled after members attempted a traffic stop.
Officers from multiple detachments coordinated with the RCMP Real Time Operations Centre and EPS Air 1 to stop the vehicle using tire spikes.
“The lone occupant fled on foot and attempted to steal a vehicle from a local farm yard however was quickly arrested by police,” the RCMP said in a news release.
Mounties identified the suspect as Kalum Christian Auger, 31.
According to Correctional Service Canada, Auger escaped from the Stan Daniels Healing Centre in May.
The centre, a minimum security facility operated by Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA), houses conditionally-released and federally-sentenced Indigenous inmates.
Corrections officials said he is currently serving a sentence of six years, nine months and 16 days for manslaughter – use of a firearm.
Auger also served sentences for break and enter with intent, pointing a firearm and failure to comply with an undertaking.
“The effective coordination of assets between the RCMP Detachments as well as Edmonton Police Service was instrumental in effectively and safely arresting this wanted escapee,” said Toefield RCMP Cpl. Kenneth Petruik in a statement.
“We are pleased to have this offender who was committing crime in our area back in jail.”
The RCMP said Auger now faces additional charges of flight from a peace officer, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a controlled substance.
He also faces three counts of illegal possession of government documents and operation of a motor vehicle while prohibited.
RCMP said Auger was taken before a justice of the peace and remanded into custody. His next court date is July 15 at the Alberta Court of Justice in Vegreville, Alta.
The Correctional Service of Canada and Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA) are conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Auger’s escape.
Kalum Christian Auger, 31, escaped from the Stan Daniels Healing Centre in Edmonton on May 31, 2024.
Courtesy: Correctional Services of Canada