Child luring charges
A 45-year-old Chatham man is facing charges of online child luring, following an investigation by the Chatham-Kent Police Service’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit.
According to a police media release, the suspect was located and arrested in Amherstberg with assistance from the Windsor Police Service’s ICE unit.
ICE units across Ontario are part of Ontario’s strategy to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
The suspect has been released from custody with a future court date.
The charges are related to luring a child under the age of 16 for a sexual purpose through online communications.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and further details will be provided as appropriate.
Got ’shrooms?
Chatham-Kent police are asking residents to have an eye for illegal activities following the seizure of illegal psilocybin at a St. Clair Street business in Chatham.
According to a media release, police executed a warrant at the property on Jan. 15, seizing $23,000 worth of what are commonly referred to as magic mushrooms.
The latest seizure comes on the heels of at least three seizures of the illegal substance made over the last year.
Police are warning that property involved in criminal enterprises can be seized and subject to potential forfeiture.
Safe stolen on Grand Ave.
Two men face charges after a pair of bicycle bandits made off with a safe from a Grand Avenue business early Sunday morning.
Chatham-Kent police responded to an alarm at the Grand Avenue West business about 4:45 a.m. Sunday.
Police say two suspects stole a 200-pound safe containing various items. It’s believed the two rode off on bicycles, pulling a trailer.
One suspect was identified as a 39-year-old male Chatham-Kent resident who was previously encountered by police officers earlier that night.
CCTV footage showed four suspects together at a nearby convenient store prior to the alarm investigation.
One male suspect was found hiding at a residence. He was arrested for breaking and entering and theft.
A second suspect, 51-year-old male Dover Township resident, was also arrested after matching the description.
Both confessed to the crime, police say, and the stolen safe was recovered, with the various items.
Up in smoke
Sitting in a parked car having a smoke isn’t a crime, but what you are smoking and what you are carrying can result in charges.
That’s apparently what happened Sunday evening about 8:20 p.m. A citizen reported a man sitting and smoking in a vehicle parked on King Street West in Chatham.
Police investigated, opting to conduct a Cannabis Act investigation.
As the officers searched the vehicle, police say they found 19 grams crystal meth,
30 grams fentanyl, six grams cocaine, 15 tablets of Adderall, 28 pills of hydromorphone,
and 81 grams of cannabis.
A 28-year-old Brampton man faces five counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.