Greater Sudbury Police say a suspect has been identified after a Feb. 3 incident where a man posing as a miner tried to steal items from the men's dry (locker room) at Copper Cliff South Mine.
“An unknown male entered the premises dressed as a miner, wearing a reflective vest,” said an email from Greater Sudbury Police spokesperson Sarah Kaelas.
“He then began rummaging through a locker, attempting to steal items inside. He was then interrupted by a staff member. He then fled the scene and did not manage to take any items.”
Vale captured images of the suspect through its security system, she added. “This incident is currently under investigation by GSPS,” Kaelas said.
Although police believe the man responsible has been identified, the investigation is ongoing. No arrest has been made at this time.
When asked about the incident, Vale spokesperson Danica Pagnutti issued a brief written statement: “We are aware of the incident. An investigation was conducted and the police have been notified.”
Readers may have seen a Feb. 8 Facebook post about the incident that's been shared shared more than 3,500 times.
Jeff Dane, the Technica miner who posted the information — the company operates in Vale's South Mine — said the images of the suspect were distributed by Vale security to workers. He decided to upload the images to Facebook to try to catch the culprit.
Dane said he's received several private messages from members of the public who think they know who is in the photos. He passed that information onto Vale security.
Thefts of employees' belongings have “been an ongoing thing there,” he said. “This isn't the first time, but this is the first time they actually caught somebody on security camera, coming on the property like that.
“They've had lockers broken into before. There's been many items stolen from other employees. I don't know if this guy is connected with the rest of them … It's terrible.”
While there is security at the mine, Dane said with all the contractors operating there, it's fairly easy to just walk into the building, especially the locker room area.
He said employees do lock up their items in the dry, but in this case, his understanding is the victim's belongings were unsecured because he was in the shower.
“When he came out of the shower, that's when he saw the guy and confronted him, and said what are you doing there, and (the suspect) bailed from there,” he said.
