HURON-PERTH – Huron County OPP has charged a North Perth resident with 22 criminal charges following what police are calling a “series of alarming events” earlier this week.
The incident was detailed in a media release from Huron County OPP on Jan. 27.
It started off in Listowel on Jan. 24 when a sedan, unoccupied and warming up, was stolen from the driveway of a property on Victoria Avenue North. Just after 5 p.m. that day, a Huron County OPP officer spotted the stolen vehicle on Airport Line in Exeter. Police say the officer attempted to stop the vehicle, however the driver failed to stop and immediately took off.
A short while later, police found the stolen vehicle abandoned in a ditch on Tipperary Line, west of Clinton.
According to police, the accused fled to a nearby business after ditching the stolen sedan, where he stole a pickup truck. Soon after, the accused drove through an intersection and collided with another pickup truck, injuring the driver. The accused fled the scene of the crash and went to a nearby residence, where police say he committed a break and enter. Stolen from the home were a set of keys to a vehicle and a purse.
Outside, police say the accused then located the victim of the break and enter, threatened them and stole an SUV that was in the driveway. Police say the accused didn’t get to far, as he crashed the SUV into a stone fence.
At this point, police say the accused took off on foot and fled into a bush lot. The OPP Canine Unit and the West Region Emergency Response Team conducted a search of the area, ultimately finding and arresting the accused, who police say was hiding in a travel trailer on Parr Line.
The accused, 27-year-old Benjamin Poynton from North Perth, has been charged with the following:
- flight from police officer;
- two counts of dangerous operation;
- dangerous operation causing bodily harm;
- six counts of operation while prohibited;
- possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000;
- two counts of theft over $5,000 of a motor vehicle;
- robbery with violence;
- break, enter a dwelling house – commit indictable offence;
- break, enter a place – commit indictable offence;
- failure to stop after an accident;
- possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose;
- occupant of a motor vehicle knowing there was a prohibited weapon;
- two counts of failure to comply with a release order; and
- fail to comply with probation order.
Poynton remained in custody and was scheduled to appear in Goderich court today (Jan. 27).
