OPP lay more than 115 charges after four-month string of break-ins
Two men are facing more than 115 charges as the result of an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigation which began in October 2021.
According to police, the Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) of the OPP were involved in the investigation, which centred around numerous break-ins across the OPP’s East Region of eastern Ontario. Specifically, the investigation involved break-ins within the Lennox and Addington, Frontenac County, Centre Hastings/Madoc/Bancroft, Peterborough, Killaloe, Perth, and Renfrew OPP regions. In January of 2022, the OPP issued public appeals for information following multiple break-and-enter cases locally, in both South Frontenac (and specifically Battersea), and North Frontenac.
The CSCU has arrested two men in connection to the investigation, both of whom were arrested at a correctional facility where they are currently being held, according to Acting Sgt. Tylor Copeland, Media Relations Coordinator for the OPP East Region.
The OPP CSCU have charged Wayne Sweet, 50, of no fixed address, and Matthew French, 30, of Belleville, with over 80 Criminal Code of Canada charges, including:
- Break and enter
- Theft under $5,000
- Possession of property obtained by crime – Under $5,000
- Mischief
- Failure to comply with a probation/release/court order
- Theft over $5,000
- Theft of a motor vehicle
- Possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes
- Possession of break-in instruments
- Possession of a controlled substance
- Unauthorized possession of a firearm
Copeland said, with regard to the failure to comply violations, there were over a dozen failure to comply with a probation order charges against Sweet, and at least a half dozen failure to comply with a release order charges against French. Those charges related controlled substances were with regard to possession of methamphetamine. The pair were charged in relation to over 30 incidents throughout the region, and were additionally charged with over 35 Highway Traffic Act offences.
Both Sweet and French remain in custody and are scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Kingston next week.