Winnipeg police officer charged with theft, breach of trust after items go missing from evidence

The Winnipeg Police Service says a 24-year member of its force has been charged with theft under $5,000 and criminal breach of trust, after electronic devices went missing from an evidence control unit earlier this year.

Police said on Jan. 20, they got a report of a robbery that had taken place a few days earlier.

Electronic devices were stolen from a 37-year-old woman during the robbery and later pawned off at different Winnipeg locations, police said in a news release Friday. 

The release didn't specify what the devices were, or how many were involved.

The police service's pawn unit found the stolen items through routine checks of pawn transactions. They were then placed in the evidence control unit.

The items were processed, and it was deemed they could be returned to the 37-year-old woman, the release said. 

But on May 1, the evidence unit found the devices had gone missing, and the service's professional standards unit began investigating. 

The standards unit, which reports directly to the chief of police, is responsible for investigating complaints against Winnipeg Police Service members.

The unit's investigation identified a suspect, who was a member of the Winnipeg Police Service's evidence control unit. 

It then notified the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, the provincial police watchdog that is mandated to investigate serious incidents involving police, the release said. 

Const. Jeffrey Conrad, a 24-year member of the Winnipeg Police Service, was charged with theft under $5,000 and criminal breach of trust. 

Conrad has been placed on administrative leave pending a review of his employment status, according to the release.