One man is facing 25 charges and police are looking for another after a two-week probe of high-priced Bright’s Grove-area break-ins using a stolen pickup, Sarnia police and court records say.
One man is facing 25 charges and police are looking for another after a two-week probe of high-priced Bright’s Grove-area break-ins using a stolen pickup, Sarnia police and court records say.
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A white 2012 GMC pickup was stolen from Ortec Environment Services on Scott Road, an industrial area in south Sarnia, Feb. 27, police said. Company decals on the truck’s sides were covered up with spray paint.
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The painted pickup was used March 6-7 in a series of break-ins on Stoneridge Court, Kenwick Street, and Old Lakeshore Road at Marion Avenue, where items including a generator, motorcycle, construction tools and a wheel were stolen, police said.
The pickup was recovered, but the thefts were still under investigation, police said March 8.
In an update Monday, police said investigators have identified two suspects. One was arrested Saturday, they said, and an arrest warrant has been issued for a second.
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Wyatt Mitchell, 32, of Sarnia, faces 12 counts of possessing stolen property worth more than $5,000, eight counts of breaking and entering with intent to commit an offense, three counts of mischief worth more than $5,000, and two counts of vehicle theft.
Police did not identify the second person charged, but court records show that person is Cole Dew.
Mitchell was held for bail Saturday, police said. He appeared Sunday in a London court on video from Sarnia police headquarters, where he was held pending another appearance Tuesday. The case was adjourned to Friday during a brief appearance from the Sarnia Jail Tuesday.
Mitchell is facing seven unrelated sets of charges, five in Sarnia and two in Windsor, records show. Mitchell was one of four people charged after a break-in in the Windsor area after a vehicle crashed in a ditch, OPP said.
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He hasn’t applied for lease on the latest charges in Sarnia. He’s banned from contacting Dew while in custody.
Dew, 28, was released on $50 bail in late January after briefly being reported missing and was previously scheduled to return to court next week. He served a six-month jail sentence last year for a series of Corunna break-ins et un dangerous motorcycle chase through Sarnia. A Sarnia judge blasted Dew during sentencing for his behavior because a woman was on the back of the motorcycle while he fled police.
None of the new charges against Mitchell or Dew have been tested in court.
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