Shelburne business targeted in overnight break and enter, offers $5,000 reward for arrest

Written By JOSHUA DRAKES

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Shelburne Iron and Metal was broken into on Saturday, Feb. 21, and company equipment was allegedly stolen before the suspects fled.

Shelburne Iron and Metal is asking for community support in apprehending the individual who allegedly broke into their business overnight. The business is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.

Katelyn Lehmann, manager of Shelburne Iron and Metal, said the company takes the incident seriously and that the reward is meant to encourage the community to respond and share information.

“We don't take criminal activity lightly, and we respect our community,” Lehmann said. “By offering an incentive, we know people will talk, and it'll help us and the police, and hopefully the result will be one less criminal in our community.”

“Money talks, and we proved it, because within hours after the break-in, we had a number of tips,” she added.

While the damage could have been much worse, thankfully, Shelburne Iron and Metal already had some safety precautions in place, which minimized but didn't eliminate the potential for theft.

“There's never any cash left on site at the end of the day, so the intruder was unsuccessful at retrieving any money,” Lehmann said. “But they took off with some of our handheld radios that are costly to replace, about $400 [each] brand new.”

Despite the theft, Lehmann said the move would leave the alleged perpetrator with nothing to use, as they took only the radios, leaving none of their supporting equipment. Police arrived on the scene soon after.

“They didn't get the brand new ones, nor did they take charging cables, so these items are useless to anyone but us,” she said. “Our live security monitoring made contact with me to let me know a break-in took place.  Police were already on scene and gathered the footage and evidence they needed to conduct their investigation.”

Since the break-in, the OPP have continued to investigate the situation, and Shelburne Iron and Metal has been updated with additional information. They said that, with the investigation ongoing, they can't comment further at this time.

Lehmann said they have reviewed their business, added additional security features they believe will better secure the business after business hours, and issued a warning to anyone looking to break in again. They have shared similar warnings to nearby businesses to be on alert as well.

“We acted quickly and made a few upgrades / changes,” she said. “I won't speak too much on the enhanced security, but I'd suggest it's in the people's best interest to not come around here anymore if they want to be criminals. We've also spread the word around, always lock up and have deterrents and good security.”

Anyone with information relating to the break and enter is encouraged to contact Dufferin OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Shelburne Iron and Metal at (519) 925-3072.