Man sentenced for property-related offencest

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on January 25, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail for several criminal offences last year, including a break-in at the Lethbridge police storage compound.
Timothy Corey Scout was sentenced to 11 months in jail after pleading guilty last week in Lethbridge provincial court to charges of shopbreaking, attempted shopbreaking, shoplifting, assault, possession of stolen property over $5,000, and possession of break-in tools.
One of the charges of shopbreaking relates to the police storage compound on 3 Avenue North, at which Scout was found after an officer noticed a hole cut in the chain link fence just before midnight on Aug. 26.
“Mr. Scout was caught red-handed on scene,” Lethbridge lawyer Tracy Hembroff admitted.
No one was found following an initial search, but nearly four hours later the same officer was alerted by a motion camera at the compound and he and other officers arrived and announced that whoever was in the compound needed to surrender or a police dog would be released.
After sniffing around the perimeter of the compound, the dog found Scout hiding in a car inside the facility.
“The passenger window was rolled down and the police dog apprehended the accused by his right arm through the open window,” explained Crown Prosecutor Sheena Campbell.
Police also found a glass drug pipe in Scout’s sleeve, which was broken during the incident. Scout was treated for injuries from the broken glass or dog bites, or both, but he didn’t require stitches.
Scout was also apprehended during the early morning hours of Aug. 22 after police were alerted to a man trying to break into a business in the 900 block of 1 Avenue South. An officer found Scout at the back of the business, and during a search found him in possession of some knives, suspected drugs and a tire iron.
Hembroff pointed out she and Scout admit the offence, even though she believes the case is “overwhelmingly circumstantial” because while he was found in the vicinity, he does not remember the incident.
“His recollection of exactly what he was doing back there is not clear,” Hembroff said.
Scout also broke into a detached garage on July 31 on 7A Street South after he and a woman were seen jumping a fence into a yard. When police arrived they found the two individuals in the garage and they admitted breaking into the building.
Scout was also caught shoplifting from Walmart on two occasions last summer. The first incident occurred July 22 at the northside store where Scout had placed food and clothing into a bag and was then stopped by a loss prevention officer. Scout, however, punched the officer in the face, ran from the store and jumped on a bike and rode away.
The second incident occurred Aug. 16 when Scout was caught shoplifting from the southside Walmart after a loss prevention officer saw him select a duffel bag from the luggage section of the store and place it in a cart. He went to the shoe department next, and when he entered the area he was wearing white basketball shoes; when he walked out of the aisle he was wearing hiking boots. He selected a package of underwear and socks before heading to the grocery department where he selected various items and put them in the cart. He placed a number of items in the duffel bag he had put in the cart earlier, picked up the bag, passed through the self checkout, then walked out of the store without paying for the goods.
Also on Aug. 16, just before 2:30 a.m., a cab driver alerted officers to suspicious activity with a white pickup on 12 B Street North. Police found a damaged, unsecured door of a business but didn’t see the vehicle. Another officer driving to work just before 8 a.m. noticed a white truck parked on 7 Street South. A check revealed the vehicle had been stolen. It was also the same vehicle seen during some of Scout’s other criminal activities, including the theft from Walmart later the same day.
Even though Scout has never been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, Hembroff said his mother was an alcoholic and likely drank through her pregnancy with him, and he comes from a “long line” of substance abuse.
“He struggles mightily with drugs,” Hembroff said, adding he turns to crime to make ends meet and feed his addiction.
Although sentenced to 11 months in jail, Scout was given credit for seven and a half months spent in custody, leaving slightly more than three months on his sentence.

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