Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a man wanted in connection to the theft of several poppy boxes from Calgary retailers.

More than 10 of the boxes have been ripped off from retail locations across the city since the beginning of November and police believe they know who is responsible for some of them.

Dwayne Shane Soroka, 31, is wanted in connection to the theft of five of the poppy boxes.

Soroka is described as:

  • Caucasian
  • 188 cm or 6’2” tall
  • Clean shaven and bald
  • With a medium-to-heavy build

Calgary police S/Sgt. Travis Baker of the Centralized General Investigations Section says the public was very helpful in providing information on the thefts.

“We’ve received several Crime Stopper tips identifying him. We’ve also had several police officers who have dealt with him or have seen his photo and identified him from the videos as well. And thankfully a couple of the eye witnesses, victims from the businesses they’ve been stolen from, also identified him and picked him out of photo lineups,” said Baker.

Police say Soroka is known to them and he is also wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for parole violations.

S/Sgt Baker says he is bothered by who the thieves are victimizing.

“People are donating to a good cause, in this case we’ve got veterans out there, they’re people who’ve done so much for our country and with Remembrance Day coming up, this is just the way that the public shows their appreciation to the sacrifices that the veterans have made. For someone to steal from those veterans, who should be getting the money, it’s morally reprehensible,” said S/Sgt Baker.

He says poppy box thefts are usually a target of opportunity and retailers can do a few things to make them less available to thieves.

“Start looking after those boxes, Keep them away from the public a little bit more,” said Baker. “We’re hoping that the locations that do have poppy boxes take a bit of care, put them aside, maybe empty them out a bit more frequently, those kinds of things to keep it a little bit safer, make it a little less opportunistic crime.”

Police say they are looking into another poppy box theft that happened on Monday in the Eau Claire area.

Police say they are continuing to investigate and anyone with information about Soroka's whereabouts is asked to call 403-266-1234, or Crime Stoppers anonymously using any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637