Police investigating break-ins at two locations tied to Muslim community

Windsor police are investigating break-ins at two locations in Windsor — and both properties are connected to Windsor's Muslim community.

According to mosque president Mirza Baig, one break-in was at their school and one was at the mosque.

The school incident occurred on Dec. 23 and the mosque was allegedly broken into Feb. 4.

"What happened at the mosque is we suspect our janitor met with someone who wanted to use the washroom," said Baig, adding that there was some kind of "unpleasant" chat between the two. 

The janitor continued to clean the mosque and later found the treasurer's office door open, said Baig

"When he looked, he could see the marks as if it was pried open," as if someone had used a screwdriver or piece of metal to get the door open.

The suspect allegedly made off with a safe. 

"They also went into the next room and picked up the console that records the videos," adding that all security cameras are controlled by that console.

"Luckily for us, there was nothing much of value inside the safe," said Baig. There was no cash or items of value in the safe, just paperwork.

Windsor police found the safe pried open and discarded in the rear area of a business in the 3300 block of Walker Road about four hours after the theft. The safe was returned to the mosque. Due to where it was found, police believe a vehicle was involved in the offence. 

Baig said the description of the alleged suspect in December's incident at the school on Janette Avenue matches the description of the suspect in the mosque break-in. 

"We don't know what the motive was behind all this," said Baig. "It could be something, but we don't want to raise alerts."

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them or Crime Stoppers. The Property Crimes Unit is handling the investigation.