Charges have been stayed against a now-resigned Manitoba RCMP constable alleged to have stolen roughly $300 from a vehicle during a 2024 traffic stop, after the complainant in the case left the country.

Ben Harder resigned from the force last year while being investigated for the incident, which was alleged to have happened on Nov. 19, 2024 in Portage la Prairie, Man.

Mounties previously said they got a public complaint just over a week later. Harder was charged with theft and breach of trust.

A spokesperson for the Crown said in an email Thursday prosecutors determined there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction in the case, “as the complainant and key witness is no longer in Canada and the Crown has been unable to contact him.”