MONTREAL -- Montreal police say that after several months “on the trail” of two men suspected of dozens of crimes, they arrested both, and the men finally appeared at a Montreal courthouse last week.
The two “prolific criminals” are suspected of about 40 crimes, including arson, theft from ATMs, and stealing cars and catalytic converters. They were arrested in February.
Érick Charron and Frédérick Lapointe are alleged to have taken more than $36,000 in the robberies combined and to have caused more than $140,000 in property damage. The two were “particularly active” last winter, police allege, in Montreal and the Rive-Nord area just north of the city, including Laval.
“The investigation which led to their arrest was launched last January after a series of thefts from ATMs” located in various commercial establishments, Montreal police wrote in a release on Thursday.
The police officers who were “on their trail” suspected the two-man criminal team of having committed 12 of the ATM thefts and of being linked to seven vehicle thefts, four vehicle fires, three thefts or attempted thefts of catalytic converters.
They also suspect them of 13 thefts of license plates, as well as a hit-and-run and simple theft. The two were first arrested by the police on the night of February 9, when they were “trying to steal a truck from the parking lot of a used vehicle dealership in Montreal,” police allege.
“Lapointe was arrested, but his accomplice managed to flee,” they wrote. “He was finally arrested a few days later while driving a stolen vehicle.”
Various local police departments helped in the arrests, including forces from Saint-Eustache, Laval, Terrebonne and the Sûreté du Québec.
