Vermilion RCMP charge two with weapons offences

Two people have been charged with weapons offences after an investigation in Vermilion.

On Aug. 18, 2023, at approximately midnight. Vermilion RCMP received a complaint of a suspicious vehicle parked at the end of a driveway to a rural residence east of Vermilion. 

Members attended the area of the complaint and located the vehicle in question with two occupants who were passed out inside. Investigation revealed two unsecured firearms in the vehicle, one of which was modified so as to make it prohibited.

As a result of the investigation, Vermilion RCMP arrested and charged both individuals as follows:

Bowdrie Patterson (32), a resident of Wainwright, Alberta, was charged with the following offences:

• Possession of a prohibited weapon;
• Possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle;
• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm;
• Fail to comply with release order.

Lara Stoyko, 33, a residence of Vermilion, was charged with the following offences:

• Possession of a prohibited weapon;
• Possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle;
• Possession of a loaded prohibited firearm;
• Fail to comply with recognizance.

Patterson and Stoyko were brought before a justice of the peace.

Stoyko was released on a Release Order with court set for Sept. 18, 2023, at the Alberta Court of Justice in Vermilion while Patterson was remanded into custody and is set to appear in court on Sept. 12, 2023, at Alberta Court of Justice in Lloydminster.

“Vermilion RCMP members continue to remain committed to working with our communities to improve the safety of our residents. In this case an otherwise innocuous suspicious vehicle complaint quickly turned into a much more serious investigation involving a prohibited firearm. I continue to encourage folks to call in suspicious activity as it happens,” says Sgt. Corey Buckingham of Vermilion RCMP.