Man sent to jail for storage unit thefts

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This article was published 12/08/2020 (2063 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man was sent to jail on Monday after pleading guilty to multiple theft-related charges.

Scott Crawford pleaded guilty to a string of charges, including possession of property obtained by crime, possession of break-in tools, two counts of break and enter to commit theft and theft under $5,000 of a package.

Crown attorney Brett Rach said the crimes took place over multiple incidents beginning in May 2019.

On May 14, 2019, police got a call from an employee of Eecol Electric complaining that $700 worth of electrical supplies were taken from the company’s loading dock. Police viewed a surveillance video, which showed a man driving up in a “fairly unique” car and Crawford getting out.

It shows Crawford taking $680.84 worth of supplies from underneath a staircase leading up to the business, Rach said.

The next incident was on July 12, 2019, when Rach said police received several complaints of a “suspicious vehicle in a weird area” that was stuck. When police arrived they spoke to Crawford, who gave them a nonsensical story.

Police searched the vehicle and found a stolen bike, a key ring, a battering ram and a pry bar, Rach said.

Then, on Nov. 24, police received a complaint of a break and enter in progress at Trans Can Mini Storage. The caller said they were watching on a security camera as two people left in a black SUV southbound on Park Avenue East.

Police intercepted the vehicle at the intersection of Park Avenue East and Richmond Avenue East. The occupants were nervous, Rach said, and there were commercial-grade bolt cutters at the driver’s feet. Crawford was also in the vehicle.

When police searched the vehicle, they found several red padlocks on Crawford belonging to units at the storage facility. Other padlocks were found on both men. Police also found a duffel bag in the car that came from one of the storage units, Rach said.

The last of the incidents happened on June 12, 2020, when police received a report of a break-in to an address on Outback Drive. Rach said approximately $1,000 worth of items were taken from storage lockers in an underground parking garage.

One of the tenants set up hunting cameras in the garage, which captured images of Crawford and a woman in the garage.

When police searched the hotel room the two were staying in, they found the stolen items from the storage lockers.

The Crown suggested a sentence of eight months in jail, followed by 18 months of probation.

“I think it’s quite clear what’s going on with Mr. Crawford. I’m sure there is some type of substance abuse issue going on for these types of property-related offences to be occurring,” Rach said.

Defence lawyer Ryan Fawcett agreed with the Crown’s recommended sentence, saying his client has the equivalent of approximately three months time already served in jail.

He said Crawford finds himself going down a bad path “dabbling in methamphetamine,” but has almost no other criminal record. There were no violent incidents and jail will be “particularly difficult for him,” but he is taking responsibility.

“Hopefully he uses this time to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life,” Fawcett said.

Judge Donovan Dvorak said Crawford has to decide how he wants to spend the rest of his life.

“You have to decide ‘is this how I’m going to spend the rest of my days?’” the judge said, describing Crawford’s current cycle as going to court, getting a few months in jail, being released and then desperately looking for things to steal to support his habit.

Dvorak went with the jointly recommended sentence by the Crown and defence, sentencing Crawford to eight months in jail.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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