Tire thief suspect asks to be returned to custody
By Shurtz, Delon on March 10, 2020.
Delon Shurtz
Lethbridge Herald
A Calgary man who stole $250,000 worth of tires and rims from car dealerships across the province has had his bail revoked while he waits to be sentenced.
Judge Jerry LeGrandeur revoked Patrick Francois Rouillard’s bail Monday in Lethbridge provincial court after the accused asked to be returned to custody pending his sentencing hearing. Rouillard was scheduled to have a sentencing hearing Monday, but it was adjourned to April 20. Meanwhile, Rouillard will be credited one and a half days for every day he spends in remand, which will be subtracted from his sentence.
The Crown is seeking a prison sentence of three years, while Lethbridge lawyer Vincent Guinan asked that his client be sentenced to a jail term of four to six months.
Rouillard pleaded guilty Jan. 13 in Lethbridge provincial court to several counts of shopbreaking, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in stolen property. But while he admitted to crimes in Lethbridge, Taber, Calgary, Leduc and Wetaskiwin, his sentencing hearing was adjourned to allow time for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Court was told in January the offences to which Rouillard pleaded guilty began March 8, 2016 when, in a rented U-Haul truck, he stole tires and rims from 10 new vehicles parked at Murray Chevrolet Cadillac in Lethbridge. He also cut the locks on two large sea containers and stole sets of new tires and new and used rims. The value of the stolen items was nearly $60,000.
On May 9 Rouillard cut the lock to a fenced compound at Rocky Mountain Equipment in Lethbridge and stole six pallets of tires and rims worth about $4,500. Then two months later, on July 20, using a U-Haul truck rented in Red Deer, Rouillard cut the fence around the fleet lot of Schwab Pontiac Buick in Leduc and stole nearly $60,000 worth of tires and rims from 13 vehicles. Two days later he was paid $9,700 from an individual for an unknown quantity of stolen property.
Rouillard returned to Lethbridge in October and stole more tires and rims, then on Jan. 19, 2018, he rented a U-Haul trailer in Calgary, drove to Taber and stole $23,000 worth of tires and rims from seven new pickup trucks parked at Legacy Dodge. He also stole $70,000 worth of tires and rims from a dealership in Wetaskiwin in June before returning to Calgary, where police watched him cut a hole in a fence around the compound belonging to Varsity Chrysler.
Rouillard sold stolen tires and rims through his Kijiji account “Tire Guy,” and sold items directly to automotive dealers.
He was finally arrested July 31, 2019 at Canadian Forces Base Suffield northwest of Medicine Hat.
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