A focused enforcement blitz in the city of Sarnia ended a theft spree and led to the recovery of a stolen vehicle.
On Friday afternoon, officers from the Sarnia Police Service Crime and Intelligence Unit responded to a store on Confederation Street following a report of a suspicious vehicle.
Police were given a description of the van as well as its occupants. Police found the white work van with writing on the side and the passenger window smashed out unlocked, and unoccupied. Officers discovered the van had been stolen from London.
Later, police observed a male and a female inside a nearby fast-food restaurant. They were promptly arrested for having property obtained by crime exceeding $5000.
Further investigation led officers to believe there was a third suspect who remained outstanding.
Sarnia officers converged in the area and located the remaining suspect behind a nearby building. The man was arrested and charged with possession of property garnered through crime exceeding $5,000. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing a shirt with the security anti-theft tag still attached.
Police proceeded with a search of the stolen vehicle. They seized roughly $1,000 of stolen clothes and approximately $200 of stolen tools. The merchandise had been stolen from multiple businesses in Sarnia, possibly Chatham-Kent, and London.
As a result, a 40-year-old man of Brantford, a 37-year-old man with no fixed address in London, and a 32-year-old woman with no fixed address in London have been charged with possession of property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000, and possession of property obtained through crime under $5,000.
The man of London was also charged with failure to comply with probation, and the Brantford man was additionally charged with two counts of failure to comply with his release orders and four counts of breaking his probation.
The woman and man from London have been released on bail, while the man from Brantford remains in custody.
The incidents remain under investigation at this time.
