Political strategist Nick Kouvalis and an activist charged with breaking into restaurant

Political strategist Nick Kouvalis and a would-beHamilton Mountain provincial Conservative nominee have beencharged with breaking and entering after police saidthey were foundat 2 a.m. ET insidea Kelseys restaurant in Burlington, Ont., in September.

Kouvalis andSarahWarry-Poljanski were arrested on Sept. 26, saidConst. Colin MacLeodofHalton Regional Police Service.

They were found inside the restaurantafter an alarm was set off, he said.

MacLeodalso said they "appeared" intoxicated, and were held by police until they sobered up.

"It would appear that they had taken some beverages."

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Kouvalisworked as campaign manager for Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch. He resigned in February. He also ran RobFord's successful Toronto mayoral campaign in 2010, andworked for current Toronto MayorJohn Toryduring a successful campaign in 2014.

Toronto lawyer DirkDerstine, who is representing Kouvalis, saidno plea has been made and there's no indicationthere will be one anytime soon.

"He doesn't deny being at the bar on that evening, but he absolutelydenies having any criminal intent," saidDerstine.

Derstine saidthere have been two court appearances so far. The next one is expected in early January, and defence lawyers won't be meetingwith the Crown until mid-February.

Meanwhile, Kouvalisis out on bail, the lawyer said.

"He's certainly sorry for all of the excitement and disruption, and he's sorry that things went down the way they did, but he never had any criminal intentions."

Warry-Poljanski'swebsite bio says she's an addictions worker, and"has an educational background in addictions counselling and criminal psychology and behaviour."She's spent most of her career working with at-risk youth, the bio says.

She ran to become a Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board trustee in 2014, and vied for the Hamilton Mountain provincial PC nomination this year. She was defeated Sept. 25, hours before her arrest at Kelseys.

She hasalso held rallies at Queen's Park and Hamilton city hall to protestrising electricity rates and is a vocal opponent of the city's planned light rail transit system.

Hamilton lawyerPeter Boushy confirmed to CBC that he has been retained to representWarry-Poljanski.

"It's important to remember that Sarah is presumed innocent and that [in] this particular case there's absolutely no criminal intent," said Boushy.

Kouvalis has struggled with alcohol addiction since 2011. In April 2016, he was arrested for drunk driving in the Windsor, Ont., area.

Kouvalis wascharged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle and exceeding 80 milligrams blood alcohol content.

He was driving his Lexus in Tecumseh, Ont., around 2:20 a.m. when he collided with a concrete culvert, according to theEssex County OPP. He was arrested at the scene when officers noticed he appeared intoxicated, police said.

According to the Windsor Star,Kouvalispleaded guilty and aspart of aplea bargain, a charge of impaired driving was withdrawn, although he was fined.

After his arrest, he explained on Twitter that he had been hopeful a stretch in rehab and regular addiction control meetings had his alcohol use under control.

Nick Bergamini,press secretary to Ontario PC Party Leader Patrick Brown, said in a statement that "we have nothing to add to the story, since this matter is before the courts and he has not been part of our campaign."