Police arrest trio suspected in rash of break-and-enters
BY VOICE STAFFWhen manager Darlene Servis arrived at her Avondale store at Haist and Canboro early in the morning the day after Canada Day, she was greeted by the sight of an enormous hole smashed through one of the building’s plate glass windows. Inside, beyond the glittering shards, she found that cigarettes, lottery tickets, and cash had been stolen.
Now it looks like the perps have been caught.
Niagara Regional Police have announced the arrest of three men suspected in several commercial break-and- enters occurring since June, in which thieves targeted cash drawers, cigarettes, lottery tickets and vaping products.
In a joint effort, the Niagara Falls Street Crime Unit, Welland Street Crime Unit, St. Catharines Street Crime Unit, and the Covert Operations Unit gathered evidence and “identified the persons responsible for these incidents,” according to a police statement.
On July 29, search warrants were executed and three people were arrested in relation to the break-ins.
Charged with various theft and possession of stolen property counts are David Crothers, 41, of Welland; Allan Mustard, 28, of St. Catharines; and Noah Fortin, 19, of Welland.
Police say that they seized items taken in the robberies along with “other evidence.”
Servis said that her store’s video system recorded two men entering the store through the broken window, and isn’t surprised to learn that the alleged perps were relatively young.
“You’d have to be pretty limber to do that,” she said, indicating a tall counter just under where the glass had been shattered. “The [third] guy must have been in the car, waiting.”
The police called Servis with details about some of the recovered goods. A call to Avondale’s head office confirmed that the lottery ticket serial numbers matched those stolen in Fonthill.
Servis wondered aloud about how long the police might need to keep the store's property as evidence.
“Hopefully I can get some of the stuff back.”
