Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3225
The ultermate in Kleptomania
8/28/2008 at 4:24 PM
Winnipeg police have arrested two men after dozens of newspaper vending machines (65) were stolen from street corners in the city and surrounding rural areas.
Most of the thefts, which involved Winnipeg Sun and Winnipeg Free Press newspaper boxes, occurred between 2005 and 2007.
Police eventually recovered 65 stolen newspaper vending machines, some still with newspapers from the day they were stolen, from a garage behind a house in the city's North End neighbourhood in April.
Three more machines were stolen earlier this week, police said Thursday morning.
With the public's help, officers arrested two men, aged 42 and 35, in connection with the thefts.
The 42-year-old suspect was charged with four counts of theft under $5,000, possession of break-in instruments and driving while disqualified, as well as previous warrants.
He is being held at the Provincial Remand Centre.
The 35-year-old man was charged with three counts of theft under $5,000 and was released on a promise to appear.
In April, police said the vending machines themselves were worth about $42,000, and each likely contained $20 to $30 in change, making it hardly worth the trouble of transporting and breaking open the cumbersome machines.
Source: CBC news item.