A 19-year-old with no criminal record was sentenced to seven more months in jail for break and enter, a weapons offence and what a judge said was something close to a robbery.
Tristan Carson pleaded guilty to the crime spree that began in September last year, when a North Shore apartment was broken into twice.
Prosecutor Michael Wong said on the second occasion items stolen included pellet guns, silver spoons and tools. The home was packed up in boxes because the owner was moving into a care home.
The apartment was also upended, Wong said.
Police arrested him near the Sherbrooke Avenue apartment complex in possession of some of the goods. He was on bail when he failed to abide by a court-ordered curfew in October and November.
Then on Feb. 1, Wong said Carson grabbed a pendant and chain out of the hands of a clerk at an Aberdeen Mall and bolted outside, where he was chased by people attempting to arrest him.
Wong said at one point a passerby told one of the pursuing people to stop because Carson was carrying pepper spray.
He was eventually arrested in Cineplex Odeon Theatre, where he ran into a woman’s washroom. He flushed the $1,000 pendant and chain down the toilet. He has been in jail since his arrest.
Defence lawyer Murray Armstrong said Carson has a Grade 12 education and work experience as varied as apprentice butcher and car detailer. He has a number of work-related certificates.
Carson also had a good family upbringing, his lawyer said, but became involved in drugs.
“He knows he screwed up and has to get a handle on his addiction.”
Provincial court judge Stella Frame sentenced Carson to another 220 days jail on all the counts, in addition to the time he’s spent in custody since early February. He pleaded guilty to breaching a court order, break and enter and possessing a concealed weapon.
Carson also pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000 for the jewelry store incident. Frame said that crime veered close to robbery — a far more serious offence.
Frame also sentenced Carson to one-year probation.
