Peterborough police recently arrested three people in two separate housing unit takeovers.
A housing unit takeover is a situation where people have moved into a home and are manipulating and endangering the legitimate tenant or homeowner.
According to Peterborough-based organization A Question of Care, these takeovers appear to be increasingly gang related and can involve drugs, guns, and human trafficking. They often target vulnerable people.
On Tuesday (January 2), police were made aware of a man who refused to leave an apartment in the Dublin Street and Aylmer Street area. The man had struck the homeowner in the face and verbally threatened him.
The Emergency Response Team attended and entered attended and entered the apartment, taking the man into custody. Police subsequently learned the man was wanted on a warrant for break and enter, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and uttering threats.
A 39-year-old Peterborough man was arrested on the strength of the warrant and was also charged with assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats to cause death. The accused man was held in custody and appeared in court on Wednesday.
In the second incident on Thursday (January 4), police received information about three unwanted people in an apartment in the area of Hilliard Street and Marina Boulevard. The victim reported being punched in the face and verbally threatened. The Emergency Response Team attended and entered the residence, taking two people into custody.
During a search after the arrests, officers located 8.8 grams of cocaine and 17 hydromorphone pills. As a result of the investigation, a 39-year-old Peterborough woman was arrested and charged with assault and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and a 35-year-old Peterborough man was arrested and charged with possession of a Schedule I substance (cocaine) and possession of a Schedule I substance (opioid other than heroin).
The accused woman is being held in custody and will appear in court on Friday (January 5). The accused man was released on an undertaking and is scheduled to appear in court on January 23.
