Accused ‘screencutter’ remains in custody

The man accused of terrorizing residents in three P.E.I. communities with a string of break and enters is remaining behind bars.

Chief Provincial Court Judge Nancy Orr adjourned Richard Joseph Arsenault’s case to Sept. 12 for election. Arsenault, who was led into court Monday in handcuffs and leg shackles, will continue to stay in jail and has again been ordered to continue to refrain from having any contact with his wife. Crown attorney Valerie Moore requested, and was granted, the order earlier this week after items were seized from the couple’s home.

Arsenault, 38, of Summerside has been charged with several counts involving break, enter and theft in P.E.I. The charges stem from what police dubbed the “screencutter’’ investigation in reference to a slate of break and enters orchestrated by screens on windows being cut to gain entry to homes. The thief would than steal cash from the homes. A task force was developed when the police noted that break-ins similar in nature were occurring in Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford.

Over the course of the investigation, RCMP and city police services worked with the province’s criminal intelligence services to profile the thief. In January, RCMP released images from a security camera showing a man wearing a ski mask, holding a ladder and accessing a garage.