What appears to be a strange hoax has led to the arrest of a 52-year-old Portage la Prairie man who now faces multiple charges related to theft and mischief.
According to an RCMP release, on October 14 at about 1:55 PM, the Russell RCMP detachment got a report of 6 bison having been shot and removed from a farm property, located in the RM of Russell-Binscarth.
When officers arrived on scene, they met with the owner of the property, who showed them the locks on his pasture had been removed and replaced with locks that did not belong to him. Six bison were also missing from the pasture.
Checking trail cameras set up in the area, RCMP saw four trespassers enter the property in a pickup truck and on ATVs. They allegedly shot the bison and removed them from the property.
From there, the story began to get a little strange. RCMP said the victim reached out to them the next day to tell them they’d found a social media ad online which had been advertising a bison hunt for $1000 per animal at this location. The victims, who were the legal owners of the bison, did not place this ad. The victim did state that they had posted to social media advising of the theft and received numerous responses, including from several of those who had shot the bison.
RCMP said three people, who had originally responded to the add and attended for the hunt, reached out to contact them and said they were under the impression that the hunt was legitimately organized by the suspect. All three witnesses are cooperating with police.
On October 16, 2024, Russell RCMP issued a Warrant of Arrest out for Gerald Sean Gebler, 52, from Portage la Prairie, who was charged with Theft over $5000 and Mischief over $5000 in relation to this incident. Additional charges are likely. Later that day, Gebler turned himself in to the Portage la Prairie RCMP where he was later released for court scheduled for January 22, 2025, in Russell.
Russell RCMP continue to investigate.
