Pair charged after string of roughly 30 break-ins across Winnipeg

Two people have been arrested after a string of break-ins in which more than $80,000 worth of items, including computers, electronics, bikes and tools, were stolen from across Winnipeg.

Police say they got about 30 reports about break-ins at storage lockers and residential complexes from May 2022 to this month.

An investigation by the property crime unit linked the pair to the break-ins, which caused a total of about $250,000 in property damages, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release on Monday morning.

On Jan. 25, police searched a residential complex on Furby Street between Sargent and Westminster avenues and took a 31-year-old man and 32-year-old woman into custody.

The man was charged with 21 break-and-enter-related offences, while the woman was charged with 34. Both are from Winnipeg and were detained in custody, police said.

The same pair was also charged with more than a dozen break-ins in 2021, Winnipeg police said in a news release at the time.

The break-ins over the past nine months are alleged to have happened all the way from near Chief Peguis Trail in north Winnipeg to near Bishop Grandin Boulevard in the south end, and in both the west and east sides of the city.

The properties where recent break-ins happened were on:

• Sinawik Bay.
• The southern part of Swindon Way.
• River Avenue between Osborne and Donald streets.
• Stafford Street near Grant Avenue.
• Stradbrook Avenue between Wellington Crescent and Nassau Street N.
• Fairhaven Road near Lindenwood Drive W.
• Lindenwood Drive E. east of Kenaston Boulevard.
• Edmonton Street north of Broadway.
• Kimberly Avenue west of Concordia Hospital.
• Two addresses onMolson Street north of Concordia Avenue.
• Tache Avenue north of Provencher Boulevard.
• St. Anne's Road north of Fermor Avenue.
• Edmonton Street between Portage and St. Mary avenues.
• Corydon Avenue between Stafford and Wilton streets.
• Whellams Lane west of Henderson Highway.
• Colony Street north of Broadway.
• Adamar Road east of Pembina Highway.
• Wellington Crescent near River Avenue.
• Roslyn Road near Osborne Street.
• The eastern part of Masson Street.
• Main Street near Broadway.
• Bannatyne Avenue east of Portage Avenue.
• Market Avenue.
• Two addresses on McGregor Street between Stella and Burrowsavenues.
• Arbuthnot Street between Garwood and Mulvey avenues.

Police urgepeople to register and record serial numbers of vehicles and trailers including power sports and leisure products and household products such as electronics, power tools, bicycles and jewelry.

Doing that helps investigators find victims and substantiate property theft charges, police said. It also increases the odds the stolen property will get back to its rightful owners.