EXCLUSIVE: 'I should have done something': RCMP officer says he let fugitives slip through his fingers after they blew through a police checkpoint
Josh Boswell In Split Lake, Manitoba For Dailymail.com
24 mins ago
A police officer described to DailyMailTV how he stopped - but then let go - the two murder suspects because news of their alleged triple murder spree had not reached his small town in Manitoba.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Albert Saunders stopped teenagers Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and searched their 2011 gray Toyota RAV4, after they blew through a police checkpoint at Split Lake, northern Manitoba on July 22.
In an exclusive interview, Saunders said, 'I didn't really know those guys were on the run, that's why I didn't think much about it at first, until after they posted the pictures of them the next day,' Saunders said.
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But RCMP only warned its officers to be on the lookout for McLeod and Schmegelsky, both of Port Alberni, British Columbia, on July 23 - the day after Saunders spotted them.
Saunders described how he is now wracked with guilt after discovering he could have stopped the alleged serial killers in their tracks.
'I feel I could have done something more, like I should have done something earlier,' he said.
© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited Kam McLeod Saunders said the teens drove past him and RCMP partner Morgan Spence at a traffic checkpoint in the RAV4, which had not yet been reported stolen from murder victim Leonard Dyck.
Saunders said,'They slowed down and then they drove by. I had the lights on and I was standing outside the truck. Me and my partner jumped in the truck and we went to stop them.'
Saunders said the boys saw the police in pursuit and pulled over.
He said, 'They turned off their engine, and I asked them why didn't they stop, they were supposed to stop when the lights are on.
© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited Bryer Schmegelsky 'They were just telling me 'sorry'. I asked them where they came from. 'Vancouver' they told me. They looked scared.
'I spoke to the one with the mustache, Kam McLeod. He just kept saying, 'Sorry'. They didn't say where they were going.'
Saunders said he and his partner then inspected the vehicle.
'I told them I was going to do a quick search, and then I searched up,' Saunders said. 'They kept looking at each other. There was a couple of boxes in the back.'
Saunders only found survival gear and maps when he searched the car. He did not see any weapons.
Saunders said, 'I told them to stop next time there's a situation like this, and they said 'yep' and 'sorry', and they went. They pulled into town, got some gas, then went. They were heading up towards Gillam.'
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They did head to Gillam, a small town 100 miles east of Split Lake. The stolen RAV4 was discovered burnt out there on July 23.
As officers at the Split Lake traffic stop are unarmed and have no bullet-proof vests, Saunders said he felt he also had a close brush with death that day.
'After I found out who they were I realised I could have got shot, or something could have happened to us. I was thinking about it a lot after I found out,' he said.
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He told DailyMailTV, 'Morgan was talking to the thinner one, Schmegelsky. He was quiet. Morgan said that they'd have to take a look around, check their vehicle for alcohol or drugs.
'But looking at the vehicle that they were driving in, the constable said all that was in there was survival gear, blankets and a lot of maps.
'They said that they were just going to come into the community, fuel up and head back out.'
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'They were pretty freaked out about it. They said that anything could have happened, especially two constables that weren't equipped or supplied with personal protective gear,' he told DailyMailTV.
'[Spence and Saunders were] dressed just like you and I, just regular clothes, no uniforms, no guns, no pepper spray, no batons, no nothing,' he added.
'All they do is stop the vehicle traffic coming into the community checking for alcohol and drugs. They were pretty damn lucky they didn't get shot or killed for stopping those two individuals.'
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