A 27-year-old Castlegar man is facing three counts of theft under $5,000 following a police investigation in which the donation boxes from three Castlegar businesses were stolen in January.
On Jan. 4, the SPCA donation box was stolen from the Shell station; on Jan. 7, the donation box for Crohn's and Colitis was stolen from M&M meats; and on Jan. 10, the donation box for the SPCA was stolen from Kootenay Market.
On Jan. 10, an astute business owner, who had been present when the donation box was stolen from his store, notified RCMP that he had seen the male he believed to be responsible for the theft from his store several days earlier, walking near Kootenay Market. The male was located and identified by police and the witness, and after further investigation and enquiries, he was arrested for theft and is to face these charges. He will appear in Castlegar court on Feb. 15.