Three people, including one youth, have been charged in relation to a break and enter to an attached garage in the Southwest Hill area of Medicine Hat on the weekend.

On March 23, 2023, at approximately 1:20 AM, members of the Medicine Hat Police Service responded after a homeowner spotted three individuals on their property and immediately called police. Officers responded and deployed a drone, which allowed them to quickly locate three suspects within the area and make the arrests. Property from the garage was recovered and three people have been charged with the following offences:

Jacob Hein, 18-years-old, from Medicine Hat, is charged with break and enter,

Kalan Malmgren, 18- years-old, from Medicine Hat, is charged with failing to comply with probation and break and enter,

A youth, who can not be named, has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, break and enter and failing to comply with probation.

“The drone proved to be an effective tool during this investigation. It allowed officers to quickly locate the individuals and officers on scene were then able to respond with precision” says Inspector Joe West. “We also want to commend the homeowner for immediately reporting this matter by calling 9-1-1. Doing so, allowed officers to be rapidly deployed to the area and ultimately led to identifying those responsible.”

The MHPS has been utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, since 2020 when they were first introduced as a pilot program. Currently the MHPS has three officers who are certified to operate the UAV’s. The use of UAV’s is heavily regulated by Transport Canada and MHPS policy which limits their use to crime scene/ traffic scene photography, searches for missing or wanted persons and tactical operations during high risk incidents or crimes in progress.

Media Contact:

Inspector Joe West
Operational Services Division
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8414