A man and woman accused of renting a furnished St. John’s condo and cleaning it out when they left — sending everything but the dishwasher, washer and dryer to a storage locker in Quebec — made quick appearances in provincial court Monday afternoon.
Warrants had been issued in February for the arrest of Dominic Delisle, 30, and Sarah Daneault, 34, after police received a complaint from a woman saying she had rented the pair a fully furnished condo in the metro area.
After the pair moved out, she realized they had taken all the home’s furnishings, minus the three appliances, valued at more than $30,000.
After seeing news coverage of the warrants, staff from a local moving company contacted police to say they had helped the pair move, not knowing the furniture was stolen.
The stolen items were later recovered from a storage locker in Quebec City, with the help of the Quebec City Police Department and RCMP from Montreal.
Friday night, police tracked Daneault down at a business in St. John’s after receiving a tip from the public and took her into custody.
Monday morning, shortly after issuing a media notice saying they were still searching for Delisle, he was spotted in a vehicle on Torbay Road. He attempted to flee from police, but was caught and taken to the lockup.
Daneault has been charged with one count of theft over $5,000, and was released from custody on a number of conditions, including that she stay in the province and check in weekly with police. She’ll make her next court appearance May 18.
Delisle has been charged with theft over $5,000, uttering a forged document (the condo lease) and impersonation with intent for signing the document as Nicolas Sigouin.
New charges of evading police and dangerous driving were laid after his arrest. He will be back in court Tuesday for a bail hearing.
