Chatham-Kent police arrested the second man wanted in connection with a recent Chatham-Kent crime spree. Tuesday.
According to police, the man walked into D.S. Walker Jewellers in Wallaceburg shortly before 1:30 p.m. and asked for an appraisal of stolen jewelry in his possession. The employee, suspicious of the man, called police.
Less than 10 minutes later, officers arrested the man. A search revealed he had drugs in his possession as well.
A 31-year-old Wallaceburg man initially was arrested on charges of possession of property obtained by crime and two counts of possession.
But once the jewelry linked him to the crime spree, he is also charged with theft, three counts of possession of stolen property and break and enter.
A day earlier, police arrested a 33-year-old Chatham man in Thamesville. He is charged with robbery, theft, four counts of possession of stolen property, and break and enter.
The charges for both men relate to a series of crimes committed in C-K recently.
Police say the spree began July 23 about 6:30 a.m. when two men in a white Toyota Venza with Michigan plates pulled up at the intersection of William and King Streets in Chatham and flagged down a pedestrian to ask for directions to Walpole Island. As they were speaking to the man, the passenger got out of the car, assaulted the pedestrian and stole his tablet, police say.
They fled the area.
On July 28 at about 3:30 p.m., police say the same two men went into the Foodland in Dresden and walked out with $110 in goods without paying for them, leaving in the same Venza. Police say their shoplifting was captured on surveillance video.
A little more than an hour later, video surveillance caught the passenger entering a residence on North River Line in Wallaceburg through a window, police say.
The man stole two cameras and accessories, a pair of binoculars and three jewelry boxes containing an assortment of jewelry, police say. The items pilfered were worth an estimated $60,000.
On Monday just before 10 a.m., the spree came to an end. Police say they received a call of a suspicious vehicle on Alice Street in Thamesville. An officer arrived, spotted the Venza with the Michigan plates and saw a lone man in the vehicle.
Checks on the vehicle and plates indicated both were stolen, and the officer made the arrest. During the search some of the jewelry from the Wallaceburg break-in was found in his possession, police say.
