5-year-old girl killed in crash involving stolen vehicles northeast of Edmonton

Police say a five-year-old girl is dead as a result of a crash involving a stolen truck near Cold Lake, Alta.

Mounties have charged one man in connection with a Tuesday night crash on a highway north of Edmonton that left one five-year-old girl dead and three people injured.

Cold Lake RCMP arrived at the scene of a collision between a Ford F-350 and a minivan on Highway 897 at the Beaver River Bridge just after 10 p.m.

The minivan was carrying the girl as well as a 10-month-old boy, their 27-year-old mom and a 30-year-old man. A news release from RCMP says those three were taken to hospital with various injuries, but the girl was dead on the scene.

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Police then learned the Ford had been stolen three days earlier in Lashburn, Sask., and was abandoned by its driver after the crash. Mounties said he had stolen a car at the scene after its owner stopped to help the injured family.

That stolen vehicle was found an hour later, but it had also been abandoned. Mounties say officers then began patrols of known prolific offenders’ residences.

By 1 a.m. Wednesday, officers had found another stolen vehicle with a shotgun in plain view at one of those residences.

Mounties said one person living there, 34-year-old Ryan Mitchell Greer, has been charged with:

• fail to stop at accident scene causing death;
• fail to stop at accident scene causing bodily harm (x2);
• possession of property obtained by crime over $5000;
• theft of a motor vehicle;
• failure to comply with probation order;
• unauthorized possession of a firearm;
• possession of a firearm contrary to order (x4).

Officers also say they recovered extra stolen items and laid unrelated charges on other people living at the property.

At the time of the collision, Greer was on bail for breaching a probation order.

Greer was remanded into custody and has a court date on Thursday in St. Paul.

RCMP spokesperson Troy Savinkoff said other suspects have been identified, but no other charges have yet been laid as the investigation is ongoing.