A 19-year-old man wanted by police for his alleged role in a Sept. 15 gang rape in St. Catharines was arrested in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Tuesday.
Niagara Regional Police descended on the home on Line 6 Road at 6:28 a.m. the morning of Oct. 8 with tactical and dog units.
At least one entrance to Line 6 Road, the Four Mile Creek intersection, was blocked off to traffic as the operation unfolded.
The arrest is part of an ongoing investigation, which saw three other suspects taken into custody in late September and early October.
“The emergency task unit, the K9 unit and uniform officers on scene contained the area until the fourth suspect exited the residence and was arrested without incident,” police said Tuesday afternoon, in response to questions from The Lake Report.
Larry Smith of St. Catharines faces 16 charges, including breaking and entering to commit gang sexual assault, sexual assault with a firearm and sexual assault causing bodily harm.
He was held in custody pending a bail hearing that took place on Oct. 8 in St. Catharines. He remains in custody.
A publication ban prevents details of the hearing from being released.
Smith will appear again in court Oct. 11.
Niagara police had four suspects in Sept. 15 gang rape — Smith is the last of the four to be arrested. Police first publicly identified Smith as a suspect more than a week ago, in a media release from Sept. 27.
The alleged gang rape took place at a home around Welland Avenue and Lake Street. The victim, an adult female, sustained non-life-threatening physical injuries.
On Sept. 28, Kieran Ennis, a 24-year-old from Atwood North Perth, surrendered himself at the Perth detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police.
The remaining two suspects, whose names cannot be released as they are young offenders under the age of 18, were arrested and charged on Oct. 3 and Sept. 27.
Alongside the main offences, the four suspects were all charged with both mischief and theft under $5,000 — police say they stole multiple items from the residence — and use of a firearm during the commission of an offence.
