Vancouver Police announced they have arrested two Burnaby residents and charged them with 30 counts of crimes in relation to commercial break-ins over the past few months.
In a release, the men charged are described as "chronic offenders." They are 44-year-old Shane Duhamel and 33-year-old Jesse Palanio.
The crimes were committed in Vancouver and surrounding communities, and the VPD says that the "Property Crime Unit have been investigating the rise in commercial break-and-enters in Vancouver since the COVID-19 pandemic first began".
“We believe that the arrest of these two suspects and the subsequent charge approval will have a major impact on commercial break-ins around the city,” says Sergeant Aaron Roed, VPD. “However, police efforts to target property crime offenders will continue.”Police are encouraging businesses who are shut down to make sure no property is visible from outside their buildings, to use shutters and to upgrade their lighting to help reduce crime.
The approved charges are as follows:
- 13 counts of break and enter and one count of possession of a break-in instrument against Shane Duhamel.
- 16 charges, including six counts of break and enter and two counts of identity theft against Jesse Palanio
UPDATE MAY 21, 2020: The VPD has corrected their previous statement regarding the charges. While investigators presented 70 charges to the Crown for review, only 30 were accepted and approved. We have corrected our coverage accordingly.
