Five arrested inside former Queenston St. hospital

Five men were arrested inside the former St. Catharines hospital on Queenston Street Saturday, accused of trying to steal items. Niagara Regional Police were originally looking for suspects from a nearby pharmacy breakin at 6:50 a.m. when a police dog led them to the hospital building. Uniform police and the canine unit set up a perimeter around the property. The building, which was vacated in 2013, was searched and five men were located inside. Police said an investigation did not find the five men were responsible for the pharmacy break-in, but were allegedly attempting to steal items from inside the hospital building. Kyle Rice, 32; Paul Ecker, 54; Shawn Mayhew, 39; and Mark Freeman, 55, all from Niagara Falls, were each charged with break and enter into a non-dwelling place with intent. Rice was further charged with possession of break and enter tools and failing to comply with a recognizance of bail. Ecker was also charged with breach of probation and two counts of failing to comply with recognizance of bail. Mayhew faces an additional charge of disobeying a court order. Jameson Cooper, 36, of no fixed address was also charged with break and enter into a non-dwelling place with intent and breach of probation. The former hospital buildings have sat empty since March 2013 when Niagara Health’s new hospital opened in west St. Catharines. A year before the closure, the site was purchased by Panoramic Properties Inc.–Butera Group which had plans to create residential units, but that didn’t pan out. The site was acquired by Queenston Oakdale Ltd. of Ancaster in December 2016 with the goal to develop the 4.4-hectare site into a townhouse community.