Two teenagers have been charged in connection with the theft of a minivan from St. Catharines, after police found them sleeping in a stolen vehicle in Niagara-on-the-Lake last week.

Patrolling officers in Glendale on Feb. 26 arrested a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old who were sleeping in a minivan in a plaza on York Road and Glendale Avenue. Both were arrested and taken into police custody on outstanding warrants.

Police say Burlington OPP officers from the Niagara detachment were on general patrol in the area when they spotted “a suspicious minivan” parked in the plaza — when they ran the license plates, they found the vehicle had been reported stolen from St. Catharines.

After the arrest, officers found several items in the minivan, including various key fobs for other vehicles, a large, foldable pocketknife, credit cards, gift cards and lottery tickets.

The 17-year-old male suspect, from St. Catharines, was charged with possession of property obtained by crime and failure to comply with a release order — he was transferred into the custody of Niagara Regional Police on an outstanding warrant.

The 19-year-old female with him, who has no fixed address, police say, was transferred into the custody of another local police service on an outstanding warrant.

Anyone with information about this case or other related incidents is asked to contact the Niagara OPP at 905-356-1311 or Niagara Regional Police at 905-681-4111. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).