Tracks in the snow lead to guilty plea and jail sentence

By Delon Shurtz on August 19, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge police didn’t have any problem tracking down a man who broke into two northside businesses last year. All they had to do was follow the telltale tracks in the snow.
Tyson Thomas Kehoe broke into the two adjoining businesses during the evening of Oct. 18, 2020. He stole money from a cash box he found in one of the businesses, and stole some property, including socks and a hat, from the other business. Then he put everything into suitcases with wheels and left.
“There was snow on the ground and LPS simply followed the tracks in the snow and were able to recover most of the stolen property,” Crown Prosecutor Michael Fox said Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court, where Kehoe pleaded guilty to single charges of break and enter and possession of stolen property under $5,000, and two charges of shopbreaking to commit theft.
Barely a week before the break-ins, Kehoe was seen at a home unloading tools and other items from a truck and trailer. He told police he was a student with Palliser School Division and working for “Gary” in a work study program. He said the brakes had locked on the trailer so he pulled into the alley. While police investigated his claims, Kehoe walked away.
Shortly afterward, Palliser reported the truck and trailer, valued at about $140,000, had been stolen the day before.
Kehoe also broke into a detached residential garage in November of last year. The owner noticed the bay door slightly open and the lock missing, and when he entered the garage he realized his son’s motorbike had been stolen. He also noticed cardboard had been placed over the windows and secured with tape. Police found Kehoe’s fingerprints on the tape and he was arrested.
Kehoe, 32, was sentenced to a total of seven months in jail, but he was given credit for the same amount of time he spent in pre-trial custody, which completes his sentence. He remains in custody on other charges, however, and returns to court next week.
Lethbridge lawyer Vincent Guinan said his client is relieved to finally resolve some of his charges, and is remorseful for his actions.
“I appreciate the second chance here,” Kehoe told the judge. “I’m sorry.”
He said he works for a period of time, then relapses, then returns to work before repeating the cycle all over again.
“My life is not all crime,” he said. “I work and I fall off the wagon…and I’m back and forth.”
Judge John Maher wished Kehoe luck for the future, and pointed out perhaps the obvious problem with the offender’s criminal lifestyle.
“You’re not very good at it,” he said.

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