City police arrest man alleged to be serial meat thief

A man accused of writing bad cheques and stealing large amounts of meat from Manitoba butchers was arrested by Winnipeg police this month.

The suspect, who the Free Press is not naming because he has not been formally charged, was taken into police custody on May 7, Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Ally Cox said.

One day before the arrest, a butcher shop in West St. Paul issued a news release identifying the suspect by name, alleging he had targeted up to 10 different stores over the span of several months.

Those businesses are estimated to have lost thousands of dollars worth of product, the release said.

Ray Allard, owner of C&G Meat Depot, said his business lost about $730 after receiving a bad cheque on Feb 14.

Allard said he met with the WPS last week and investigators asked him to pick the suspect who wrote the cheque out of a photo lineup.

“It was easy to spot him, I’ll tell you that. It’s one of those faces you don’t forget,” Allard said. “I’ve been dealing with him for years. He never gave me a problem or anything. He ordered lots and paid cash or credit.”

The suspect, who the Free Press confirmed has worked in Winnipeg restaurants for years, was a trusted customer before the alleged frauds, Allard said, adding he communicated with the suspect on May 6, when the man reached out via a text message.

“He said, ‘I’m sorry about that, I’ll make it up to you, I’ll make things right… I’ve been your customer before and you know I don’t like to do this. I really have no choice; ruined my own name, even,’” Allard said, reading from the texts.

Allard said he’d heard of at least one other butcher who received a similar message from the suspect.

“I think he was trying to go around, trying to maybe fix it, but I don’t know,” Allard said, adding police told him the suspect was released from custody, and is expected to appear in court at a later date.

The WPS previously confirmed it was investigating fraud reports from multiple city meat suppliers, including Pratts Wholesale Ltd. and Central Products & Foods Ltd.

The Manitoba Court registry shows the suspect was named in seven small claims lawsuits, including one from Pratts, between Jan. 10 and March 19.

RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre confirmed Mounties launched their own investigation into the suspected frauds on April 22. That investigation is ongoing and had not resulted in any arrests as of Tuesday, he said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca