AG: Fall River pair caught on camera stealing catalytic converters from RI business complex
PROVIDENCE — A Fall River couple, arrested by the Rhode Island State Police in November 2022 for allegedly stealing multiple catalytic converters, has been charged in Providence County Superior Court.
According to the office of R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, 41-year-old Jason Gagnon and 42-year-old Faith Pineault, formally charged June 29, each face four counts of larceny over $1,500, four counts of tampering with a vehicle, and one count of conspiracy to commit larceny.
A release from the AG's office states that on Oct. 17, 2022, Bristol Police responded to a report that catalytic converters had been stolen from multiple vehicles in Shannon Court, a commercial property in Bristol, R.I., that houses several small businesses.
A review of surveillance footage from the area revealed to investigators that on Oct. 15, 2022, from 1:55 to 2:45 a.m., a female suspect drove south on Ballou Boulevard and into the nearby parking lot of Vista Metals, where she parked her car. Footage from that same time also shows a male suspect near F&S Electric, a tenant of Shannon Court. After 45 minutes, the female suspect left the Vista Metals parking lot and picked up the male suspect pulling a cart down Ballou Boulevard. According to the AG's office, surveillance cameras at a nearby stoplight helped identify the vehicle as a light-colored Acura MDX model between 2001 and 2006.
Investigators subsequently discovered that later that morning, someone sold six converters, matching the makes of the victim’s vehicles, to a recycling center in Pawtucket.
The female suspect was initially identified as another woman before investigators discovered that Pineault allegedly stole her neighbor’s driver’s license and was using her identity in her dealings, the AG release states.
Gagnon, her boyfriend, has a 2002 gray Acura MDX matching the vehicle in the surveillance footage, and authorities allege his phone pinged in the same area and time as the suspect seen stealing converters on surveillance footage. The same phone was also used to contact the recycling center via text.
Gagnon and Pineault are scheduled for a pre-arraignment conference on Sept. 14 in Providence County Superior Court.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Catalytic converter theft in Rhode Island linked to Fall River couple
