Break, enter suspects found by canine unit in Lakeshore area

Pair tracked to farm outbuilding after vehicle abandoned on road

Two people are facing charges after an OPP canine unit helped track them down in the Lakeshore area last week.

Essex County OPP responded on March 12 around 4:30 a.m. to a report that a vehicle was heading to the region on Highway 401 while being driven in a dangerous manner.

Officers found the vehicle on the 401 near County Road 31. It had been abandoned in the westbound lanes of the highway with no lights on — a major hazard to live traffic.

Police learned that the vehicle had previously been involved in a collision in a different jurisdiction, and that it had fled the scene to head west on Highway 401.

Essex County OPP began searching for the vehicle’s occupants. Members of the Emergency Response

Team (ERT) and police dog Maximus were deployed.

According to police, Maximus tracked a scent from the vehicle on the highway to a nearby farm property, and then to an outbuilding on the farm.

The OPP canine located two people hiding in the building. One of the suspects needed treatment for minor bite injuries as a result of Maximus’s arrest efforts.

Pierre Mann, 36, of Windsor, has been charged with breaking and entering, possession of property obtained by crime (value under $5,000), failing to stop at the scene of a collision, and failing to comply with a probation order.

Darlene Redding, 47, also of Windsor, has been charged with breaking and entering, possession of property obtained by crime (value under $5,000), and possession of a controlled substance.