West Nipissing police got a blunt confession from a pair of thieves that were stealing from cars early Monday morning.
An officer was on foot patrol in the area of Janen and King St. when he saw two people and became suspicious.
The pair were confronted, and admitted that they were stealing from vehicles.
Both were arrested and taken back to police headquarters.
The two continued to tell police that they are doing these thefts in order to sustain their daily drug habit.
Property was seized including loose change and a carton of cigarettes.
A 22 year old male was charged with:
- two counts of Theft Under $5,000,
- Trespass by Night,
- Breach of Probation and
- Mischief.
The other accused, a 22 year old female was charged with:
- 2 counts of Theft Under $5,000,
- Trespass by Night,
- Mischief and
- Possession of Property Obtained by Crime.
Both were released on a Promise to Appear.
Meanwhile in other West Nipissing police news,
On August 14th, police received a call from a business in Verner stating that a theft had occurred sometime overnight. Officers attended and were shown where the culprit(s) cut through the chain link fence. Once inside the compound, thieves stole three outboard motors. They are described as a
- 200 HP Yamaha,
- a 60 HP and
- a 50 HP Yamaha four stroke.
The WNPS is continuing the investigation. Police are asking for the public’s assistance in order to find the identity of the suspects involved.
On August 17th, a complaint was received from a Demers St. resident stating that paint had been poured over his vehicle. The responding officer attended and also observed another vehicle which had paint on it as well. Police viewed surveillance video from a neighbor and are continuing their investigation.
On August 18th, the West Nipissing Police Service received a complaint from the marina stating that as a couple were sleeping on their boat, two males entered the boat and when confronted they quickly left the area. At the time, police located two males in the area but they denied any involvement. The next day, police were given video surveillance footage showing the same two males, go under the marina fence heading towards the boat. After speaking with the suspects, they acknowledged that their intent was to steal the dingy that was attached to the boat but were caught off guard when the owners confronted them. A 20 year old and an 18 year old male were subsequently charged with Break and Enter, Theft Under $5000 and Trespassing. The 20 year old was also charged with Breach of Probation. They were both released on a Promise to Appear.
On August 18th, a theft occurred sometime overnight. The owner of a convenience store located on Front St. noticed that someone had entered the rear office and had attempted to break open a locked storage which contained cigarettes and lottery tickets. The culprit was not able to gain access to the storage and left the store. Video footage was obtained which showed an image of the suspects along with the vehicle they were driving (older white Dodge Durango with no front plate). The investigation is ongoing.
A victim of a fraud called police on August 18th. The complainant told police that he received a call from someone stating to be from the Canada Revenue Agency. The caller told the victim that he owed money and that if he didn’t make arrangements to pay, a warrant for his arrest will be given to police. At the time, the complainant believed the caller and provided him with his credit card number. After hanging up, a friend of his said that it was probably a fraud, and police were called. He was told to contact his credit card company and to stop any future transactions. Police are warning all residents that this type of fraud is attempted regularly in this area and please remember that nobody will be contacted by phone if any money is owed to the Government. If similar calls are received, tell them that police will be contacted and hang up.
Here is another common fraud that has been going on for the past while within the Municipality of West Nipissing. People are getting pop ups on their computer screens which will not let them exit out. It is saying that the computer has been compromised. It will then ask you to call a phone number. Once you call, the “tech” states that you need to give them personal information including your IP address and credit card information. This is a fraud. All you have to do is to shut down then start the computer back up again, and if you want, call a reliable computer company where they can inspect your PC or laptop.
Police Service received a call stating that the beach volleyball courts had been vandalized sometime overnight. On August 20th, police attended and viewed the damages done to a court. The culprit cut up the court lines into pieces. Another similar incident occurred two weeks before, after someone cut one of the nets with bolt cutters. The officers canvassed the neighbourhood but, as of yet, no suspects have been identified.
During the week of August 14th to August 20th, the West Nipissing Police Service logged 214 calls for service. Among those were 40 police assistance calls, 11 alarms, 8 property related calls, 7 thefts, 5 animal complaints, 4 frauds, 4 noise complaints, 3 mischiefs, 2 trespassing by night, and 1 unwanted person.
Anyone with information about these occurrences is asked to contact the West Nipissing Police Service at 705-753-1234. For those who wish to remain anonymous, there are three ways to contact the Near North Crime Stoppers. Call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), text the word “Nipper” plus the tip information to CRIMES (274637), or submit a tip online at nearnorthcrimestoppers.com.
