Two charged after mail theft: Winnipeg police

Winnipeg police have charged two men with multiple burglaries in the South Pembina area between October 2023 and February 2024.

WPS says several apartment complexes were broken into during that time and “large amounts of mail containing financial securities and identification documents were stolen and later used to make fraudulent purchases.”

Initially, the police filed charges, and investigators continued the case.

Investigators later learned that between October 2023 and January 2024, the accused and another suspect, identified with the help of the public, broke into tenants' mailboxes at an apartment complex on Dalhousie Drive more than a dozen times.

They were later linked to a car break-in in February where a laptop and cash were stolen while the car was sitting at a restaurant.

On April 9, WPS served a search warrant on a home in the Fort Richmond neighborhood. During the search, law enforcement officers found and seized two laptops, hundreds of stolen ID cards and an air rifle.

Heather Alison Smith, 38, of Winnipeg has since been charged with 16 counts of breaking and entering and theft-related offences.

Police also charged Cheyne Caper, 40, of Winnipeg, with possession of a weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order and two counts of possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000.