Court briefs - March 4

Man charged in robbery spree changes plea

A Lacombe man charged in a robbery spree last week in Red Deer reserved his plea on seven charges Wednesday.

Dax Neil Peters, 36, returns to provincial court March 9 to enter a plea on five robbery using threats charges and single counts of resisting arrest and giving a police officer a false name.

Three of the robberies occurred on Feb. 26 in a two-hour span when the suspect hit the downtown Real Canadian Superstore but fled with no money, Pizza Hut at 3410 Gaetz Ave., and the Ross Street IDA Pharmacy at 4814 Ross St.

In those three robberies the suspect said he had a gun. The suspect was apprehended the same day.

The suspect was also believed involved in robbing Shoppers Drug Mart on Feb. 24 and the Canada Safeway downtown on Feb. 25.

In each of the Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 robberies the culprit told staff he had a gun.

Peters remains in custody.

Driver apprehended by citizens after crash to have November trial

A man who was apprehended by concerned citizens after he allegedly failed to remain at the scene of a crash will have a trial in eight months.

Darren Wade Olson, 38, of Calgary, returns to provincial court on Nov. 6 to have a trial on several charges in connection with the Dec. 28 incident.

Olson is charged with failing to remain at the scene of an accident, impaired driving, and mischief.

Several concerned citizens were credited with apprehending a driver who smashed into a light standard then continued driving into a parking lot.

The incident occurred around 7:50 p.m. when an erratically driven pickup smashed into a light standard in the centre median at Molly Banister Drive.

The pickup suffered heavy damage but continued heading north in the south lanes until turning into the Capri Centre Hotel parking lot. The driver exited and tried to leave but was restrained by witnesses.

Man gets prison sentence for thefts

A man who used the Internet to sell tens of thousands of dollars worth of property he stole received a two-year federal prison sentence Wednesday.

Ricardo Hudson, 30, of Red Deer, pleaded guilty to eight counts of possession of stolen property, possession of the proceeds of crime, possession of break-in instruments (lock picks) and mischief by destroying anti-theft monitoring devices on the goods.

Everything from razor blades to dining room sets, DVDs and high-end electronic gear was seized during a police raid in Red Deer on Feb. 22, court heard.

The seized property, reported stolen from mainly Costco Wholesale stores across Alberta and British Columbia, amounted to more than $100,000 when a search warrant was executed on Iverson Close in Inglewood.

Police said it was the largest ever recovery of stolen electronics in Central Alberta.

Crown prosecutor Murray McPherson said later Hudson was selling the stolen merchandise on the Internet website EBay.

During the bust, police found a substantial amount of packaging material for shipping the contraband.

McPherson said police estimate Hudson netted between $70,000 to $75,000 from the Internet sales. RCMP seized about $2,500 in cash during the bust.

Carla Chilton, 23, of Lacombe, had nine similar charges against her withdrawn.

Hudson was involved in breaking into businesses and disabling electronic monitoring devices to avoid detection. However, he was picked up on surveillance video.

More than 2,500 new DVD and Blu-Ray discs, numerous televisions, various video games including Wii games, Xbox 360 and PlayStation and a number of computers were taken out of the residence.

Police said earlier that the stolen goods came from several communities. Those communities were not identified in court.

Judge David Plosz said the maximum sentence for possession of stolen property valued at more than $5,000 is 10 years in jail.

He said the very early guilty plea was a mitigating factor in sentencing.

The judge also said the loss of merchandise and the money made by the culprit were aggravating factors.

Hudson had one previous conviction for theft and was jailed two months in that instance.

McPherson said the thefts and method of selling made it a “sophisticated scam.”

Defence lawyer Michael Scrase said his client was laid off in March 2009 from an oilfield job and hadn’t found work.

“You can’t exactly say he’s been sitting around doing nothing,” the judge said.

jwilson@reddeeradvocate.com