Arrest in doggone weird burglaries

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This article was published 04/03/2024 (650 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ay, chihuahua!

A man has been charged after he allegedly brought his dog along on two commercial break-ins — and the tiny pooch wasn’t for protection.

The first break-in was at the beer vendor at 740 Maryland St. on Feb. 22. A suspect, who stole alcoholic products, was seen with a small dog.

Independent Jewellers at 493 Notre Dame Ave. was broken into on Friday, and the burglar made off with an undisclosed amount of merchandise. As with the first incident, the suspect was observed with a small dog.

Const. Dani McKinnon, a spokeswoman for the Winnipeg Police Service, said investigators don’t often deal with incidents where the offender takes a dog along while committing a crime.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.

McKinnon said the fact the dog was of such a distinctive-looking breed helped police identify the pair.

“A chihuahua or any really small dog like that is a little bit more distinguishable,” she said. “It certainly was a significant piece of the evidence that was seen in both break-ins.”

Patrolling officers on Saturday noticed a man walking a chihuahua who matched the descriptions from the break-ins near Sargent Avenue and McGee Street.

“The dog was taken into safe care and not injured,” the WPS said in a news release Monday.

A 40-year-old Winnipeg man is charged with possession of break-in instruments and two counts of break, enter and theft. He was detained in custody.

The canine accomplice is not facing any charges.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca