CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who went on a theft spree that included stealing an ATM from the Bell Aliant Centre was sentenced Wednesday to 20 months in jail.
Jeremy Russell Wagner, 38, appeared before Judge John Douglas in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including stealing the ATM and high-end thefts from several stores.
The court heard the theft spree started with Wagner trying to steal a generator worth $649 from the Home Depot in Charlottetown before the store manager caught him.
Two days later, Wagner cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet he was wearing as part of a conditional sentence.
About a week later, he went to a Canadian Tire store where he a put welder worth $999.99 into a cart, went to another aisle where he cut a security wire on it, and left with it.
Wagner later stole $317.52 worth of merchandise, including five T-bone steaks, from a Superstore.
He then went to Princess Auto three times in one day where he stole two generators from the store and a plumbing tool belt out of the back of a truck.
In total, the items were worth more than $2,000.
“I don’t have any excuse for continuing to do this.”
-Jeremy Russell Wagner
Less than a week after those thefts, Wagner went to the Bell Aliant Centre where video showed him walking around until he found a dolly, put an ATM on it and walked out of the building with the machine.
The court heard Wagner refused to divulge where he put the machine, which was valued at $4,000 and had $2,640 in cash left in it.
Wagner later returned to Princess Auto where he stole a pressure washer worth $1,099.99.
Exhausted all options
Crown attorney Valerie Moore told the court Wagner had an extensive criminal record and it looked like the system had exhausted all options for rehabilitation.
Moore said the public had to be protected from Wagner because of his stealing from local businesses.
Wagner addressed the court before hearing his sentence and said he was sorry for what he had done.
“I don’t have any excuse for continuing to do this,” he said.
He told the court that while he has been in jail this time around he asked to get addiction counselling and has been working to get his GED.
Wagner also apologized to his family for embarrassing them.
Along with the jail time, which was reduced by two months for time already spent in custody, Wagner will be on probation for two years and must pay a total of more than $10,000 in restitution to the victims.
He will be back in court Feb. 14 for sentencing on a theft charge.
