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Police return stolen car with cocaine, crack pipe, pellet gun inside

"To say I am disgusted with the apparent 'policies' that the police abide by is an understatement to say the least," Courtney Pickering said.

By Ben Hooper
Some of the items Courtney Pickering found in her car after police released it from impound. CTV News/YouTube video screenshot
Some of the items Courtney Pickering found in her car after police released it from impound. CTV News/YouTube video screenshot

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CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- An Alberta woman whose stolen car was located by police said it came back from impound containing cocaine, a crack pipe and a pellet gun.

Courtney Pickering of Calgary said her 2014 Dodge Dart was stolen last week and police contacted her a couple of days later to say the vehicle had been recovered and she could pick it up when forensics was finished investigating.

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Pickering said she went to the impound lot to pick up the car and she immediately discovered a knife in the front passenger door, a lead pipe on the floor mats with other garbage, four stolen IDs in the glove compartment and a baggie of cocaine in the cup holder.

"And I went to the impound guy, 'Is this normal? Like, what do I do with this?' He was like 'Just throw it on the ground, throw it on the ground!'" Pickering told CTV News.

She said there was another surprise in the spot usually occupied by her 3-year-old son's car seat.

"A crack pipe on the seat where my son's car seat is usually on, right there, out in the open. So I grabbed that and threw it out of my car and I just lost my mind a little bit, like what is going on? I don't understand," she said.

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Pickering said she left the car and its contents for police to remove the evidence. She said she went through the car a second time after it was towed to a nearby auto shop and she discovered another item -- a gun in the back seat.

"The gun was sticking out, right where my son sits, right in front of him, and he climbs into his car seat on his own -- that's just scary," she told the Calgary Sun.

The weapon was later found to be a realistic-looking pellet gun, but Pickering said she filed a complaint with the Professional Standards Section of the Calgary Police.

"I'm trying to make enough noise so that hopefully maybe it'll affect that one officer or even anyone in their day-to-day operations," she said.

The Calgary Police Service said officers don't always search the interior of a stolen car, but it is unusual to have victims find drugs and weapons left behind in the vehicles.

"To say I am disgusted with the apparent 'policies' that the police abide by is an understatement to say the least," Pickering said.

The auto theft remains under investigation and no arrests have been made, police said.

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