A West Nipissing man is facing criminal charges after a court-ordered GPS monitoring device was damaged. Ontario Provincial Police responded around 6 p.m. Sept. 30 to a disturbance on Pike Lake Road in West Nipissing. “Upon arrival, the individual had left the area on foot,” the OPP said in a news release Oct. 2. “During the investigation, officers located a damaged GPS monitoring device that had been separated from the individual and rendered inoperable. Police determined this was contrary to conditions contained within a judicial release order.” Found in the woods Other units were called in, including the emergency response team and OPP canine unit, to help search for the suspect. “The individual was later located in a wooded area and taken into custody,” police said. “Following arrest, the accused was transported to hospital for medical assessment and subsequently released into police custody.” The 44-year-old Sturgeon Falls man is charged with mischief under $5,000 and failure to comply with a release order. He was scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on Oct. 2.
