A 35-year-old man was sentenced to 530 days in jail after some quick thinking by two locals who helped police track down a suspect after he stole their chop saw.
According to the crown, police received a 911 call on Dec. 27, 2015 after a woman was awoken at 4:30 a.m. by a noise coming from the basement storage unit of their Turret Street apartment building.
After investigating the source of the noise she saw the suspect take her boyfriend鈥檚 chop saw.
Taking matters in their own hands, her boyfriend jumped on his bike and managed to locate the suspect鈥檚 SUV at the ESSO gas station.
By the time he found an RCMP officer the suspect鈥檚 car was gone, but he managed to locate it a second time at Marmot Lodge, where he called the RCMP.
After arriving at the hotel, officers quickly ascertained it was the suspect鈥檚 vehicle and upon further investigation learned the suspect had paid for his hotel room with rolls of coins, raising further eyebrows.
The suspect was subsequently arrested by police in his hotel room with his girlfriend. At the time of his arrest police also located tools to break into coin-operated machines and a bag full of tools to carry out other break and enters. The chop saw was also found in the back of the suspect鈥檚 SUV.
Gary Derijck pled guilty to four charges in Jasper Provincial Court, Aug. 11. The charges include, being in possession of break-in instruments, break and enter not a dwelling, driving a motor vehicle while unauthorized and failing to comply with his conditions, including being in possession of tools for breaking in.
In his ruling, Judge D.C Norheim had very little sympathy for Derijck arguing that the man鈥檚 lengthy criminal record and the fact that the accused committed the offense while on release were both aggravating factors.
He also had little sympathy for Derijck鈥檚 guilty plea.
鈥淚 give you very little credit for your guilty plea at this time,鈥� said Norheim, rejecting the assertion that the accused was remorseful.
鈥淩emorse is accepting responsibility for your actions. If you only plead guilty because you can鈥檛 wiggle your way out of it that is not remorse.鈥�
He also had very little optimism the accused would be able to turn his life around and kick his meth addition.
鈥淭he chances of your rehab are slim,鈥� said Norheim. 鈥淵ou seem to make a living praying on others and the public needs protection from people like you.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why anyone would let you out.鈥�
Derijck will spend 489 days in prison after receiving credit for time already spent in jail. He was also fined $500, must provide a DNA sample and is prohibited from having restricted weapons for 10-years.
Paul Clarke [email protected]
