Bail denied for woman who attempted pizza buy with counterfeit currency

By Jeremy Appel on October 10, 2018.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

A woman who attempted to purchase pizza with a counterfeit $50 bill has been denied bail.

Angel M. Strandquist, 30, appeared Tuesday at Medicine Hat Provincial Court via closed-circuit TV from the local remand centre, crying as the judge denied her release.

The Crown was opposed to her release due to Strandquist’s extensive criminal record, which dates back to 2012.

Judge Derek Redman called the defence’s plan for her release “entirely unsatisfactory,” adding she has four convictions for failing to appear in court in 2018 alone.

Strandquist also didn’t have a surety lined up, which the Crown said they would want to cross examine.

She appears to have “a drug problem of some sort,” the prosecutor added.

The accused was represented by duty counsel, who said she is under 23-hour lockdown at the Medicine Hat Remand Centre, as they don’t have appropriate facilities for women.

“Ms. Strandquist understands that her life is spiralling here,” said duty counsel. “Part of that problem is simple disorganization.”

She has had difficulty reaching anyone who could serve as her surety and is homeless, counsel said.

Strandquist has been estranged from her family, which lives in Camrose, for seven years, the court heard.

She has three children who are permanent wards, staying with an aunt and uncle in Medicine Hat.

Counsel said Strandquist is pregnant with a fourth child and isn’t trying to get custody of her kids who are wards, but wants to turn her life around for the sake of her unborn baby.

She had an address she could stay at if she received bail, which counsel said is a drug-free house where a man resides with his daughter.

Strandquist has tried to go through the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society for a more permanent solution to her homelessness and is attempting to get income assistance from Alberta Works, defence added.

Redman told Strandquist she can apply for a bail review at the Court of Queen’s Bench.

Strandquist faces a total of nine charges — one count each of using counterfeit currency, possessing a dangerous weapon, obstructing a peace officer, possessing a break-in instrument and possessing a controlled substance, as well as two counts each of possessing stolen property and failure to appear in court.

Her matters were adjourned to Oct. 18.

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