On May 14th, 2017 at approximately 1:56 am, a male attended the Espanola Police station to report that his 2016 Ford F150 pickup had been stolen sometime within the previous 2 hours from a driveway on Second Ave. The male claimed that he had left the vehicle parked in the driveway at that location with the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked. Officers immediately began investigating the report and attempted to locate the vehicle, but were not successful. Later that morning, at approximately 9:48 am, the involved vehicle was observed by a citizen down a snowmobile/walking trail in the area of Barber and Queensway. Officers attended to investigate, and located the reported stolen vehicle with significant damage caused to the inside and outside of the vehicle.
Due to the suspicious circumstances of the incident and the information provided by the alleged victim, police investigated the matter further and were able to determine that the complainant had actually damaged the vehicle himself in an attempt to obtain money through an insurance claim.
As a result of the investigation, a 31 year old Sudbury resident is charged with the offences of Fraud Over $5000 and Public Mischief. He will appear in Espanola court on July 17, 2017 to answer to the charges.
