25 mischief charges for man accused of causing $10K in damage to Winnipeg newspaper boxes

After four monthsand an estimated $10,000 in damage, Winnipeg police arrested and charged a man they say vandalized 25 newspaper vending boxes throughout the city.

Police were alerted to the vandalism spree in April and arrested a 27-year-old man on Friday evening.

An officer on patrol caught the man in the act of vandalizing another box around 9:30 p.m. near Matheson Avenue and Main Street, police say.

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Const. Rob Carver said it appears the man was breaking into the boxes in an attempt to get change out.

"It's not a lot of change, but they're also difficult to break into, so an awful lot of damage was being done to the machines, to the boxes," Carver said. "I'm not sure if the person was successful in getting a lot of money out of them."

Police estimate the value of the boxes to be more than $10,000.

The 27-year-old was chargedwith a handful of offences, including theft under $5,000, failure to comply with a probation orderand25 counts of mischief under $5,000.

He was detained in custody.