Wheatland County, Alta. - In May of  2025, RCMP Southern Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit (SAD CRU), with the assistance of Strathmore and Brooks RCMP, initiated an investigation into a recent series of damage to and theft from irrigation pivots from various farms. These thefts began in the area of Wheatland County, and the investigation led to a suspect being identified.

During the early morning hours of July 16, 2025, officers with SAD CRU observed the suspect in the process of stealing irrigation equipment from a farm in Newell County. The suspect fled the area in a vehicle at an extremely high rate of speed, and when police again located the vehicle, they determined that the suspect had fled on foot in the City of Brooks. The suspect was located in Brooks and arrested. Through further investigation, police were able to confirm the suspect’s involvement in additional irrigation equipment thefts from farms in Southern Alberta, including within the MD of Taber.

Abram Wiebe Ham (31), a resident of Vauxhall, Alta., has been charged with the following:

• Theft over $5000 (x5);

• Mischief over $5000 (x5);

• Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle;

• Theft under $5000;

• Possession of break in tools (x4).

After a Judicial Interim Release Hearing, Ham was released to appear on Aug. 6, 2025, at Alberta Court of Justice in Medicine Hat.