Time served for thefts, break-in

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This article was published 02/11/2021 (1640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who broke into The Town Centre while high on methamphetamine and caused thousands of dollars worth of damage was sentenced to time served in jail Monday morning.

Michael Genaille, 52, pleaded guilty to a series of charges from earlier this year, which a Brandon provincial courtroom heard stem from addiction.

The first incident was on March 27 at approximately 6:30 a.m., Crown attorney Andrew Sieklicki told the court.

A security guard at the CIBC on Ninth Street reported seeing Genaille tampering with an ATM machine, he said. When police arrived, they could see damage to the machine’s money slot, and it had been pried open.

Officers arrested Genaille approximately an hour later and found him with a kitchen knife with a broken blade, Sieklicki said. A piece of the knife blade was found inside the ATM.

Then, on May 7, police received a call from Paladin Security, reporting a break-in to The Town Centre’s main atrium. When police arrived, Sieklicki said officers found five people, four of them outside the east door of the atrium and drinking. There were personal items on the floor, including a bag of Twisted Teas.

Genaille spoke to police, the Crown said, and told them he broke in because he forgot his keys.

“He seemed to have been exhibiting some form of delusions,” Sieklicki said, adding Genaille appeared to genuinely believe he lived in the downtown mall.

There was significant damage to the property, he said, including a broken window and a door that was removed from the door frame. Genaille also went into the electrical room and messed around with wires.

Sieklicki said the damage was estimated to cost more than $5,000.

The third incident was on June 15, when at approximately 12:15 a.m. police were dispatched to Ben Wiebe Construction for a report of a break-in. Sieklicki said a staff member could hear someone banging on the fence.

Police set up a perimeter, he said, and called in a police dog to help search for the suspect.

Officers found him approximately 15 minutes later walking down College Avenue and pulling a cart with toolboxes in it, Sieklicki told the court. An employee confirmed all the items were stolen from the construction compound, including a stepladder with the Ben Wiebe Construction logo on it.

Genaille also pleaded guilty to attempting to break into the Brandon School Division administration building on Sept. 7.

Sieklicki asked the judge to sentence him to a total of nine months in jail, minus the equivalent of 115 days of time served.

Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn said Genaille’s life took a turn after a workplace accident in 2015 left him unable to work. He developed an opioid and meth addiction, which sent him into a downward spiral. He has also been diagnosed with mental health issues and has been homeless, which adds to his difficulties.

“When he was on the street, he believed at one point as a result of probably a combination of drug ingestion and psychotic issues that he did live at The Town Centre. He told the police ‘I lost my keys.’ He was sure he lived there,” Synyshyn said.

Synyshyn said Genaille has been doing better recently and is on proper medication.

Speaking to the court, Genaille apologized and said meth seriously affected his thinking.

“It amplifies your emotions, it amplifies your thought process, it amplifies your psychosis in believing things are real [or] are not real. It makes your unreal world more real,” he said. “Compared to when I was out on the street … it’s like night and day.”

Judge Donovan Dvorak said the charges the accused accumulated show he was immersed in meth. He encouraged Genaille to stay away from drugs and focus on the positives in his life. He sentenced him to time served in jail and 18 months of supervised probation.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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