Two farmers, father and son, catch a would-be thief on their farm in Trochu, Alberta, stealing from them. They apprehend him.  They leave him hogtied on the ground until the RCMP can come pick him up.

Two central Alberta farmers served up some cold hard justice to an alleged fuel thief on their property, leaving him tied up and pantless in the snow until Mounties arrived.

Everything is exactly as it should be, right?

The farmers don't lose their property, the thief gets caught and hauled off to jail.  There's even a little humiliation tossed in for good measure, as the would-be thief's pants came off during the struggle.  He was left that way for the police to find.

All in all, an excellent result, right?

So why does the RCMP feel such a need to basically threaten people?  I don't get it.

The news article ends with this:

RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb advised caution when nabbing a suspect.

"The Criminal Code provides for a certain level of use of force to protect property, but anyone using force ... has to be cognizant of the fact they could be charged," he said.

I guess the RCMP, at least in Alberta, get really offended when you do their job.  Why else would they bother with the threat?

I'd be willing to guarantee that if either one of these two farmers had been in possession of a firearm during all of this, THEY would be sitting in jail today, and not the actual fuel thief.

Or maybe the RCMP just wanted to kick the guy in the face while he was on the ground and defenseless, like one RCMP constable did in Kelowna on the weekend, except this time without the video camera running.