Man sentenced in connection with stolen vehicles
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on February 3, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com
At about noon on Sept. 26 of last year, RCMP received a report that a vehicle had been stolen from a property near Aetna south of Cardston, and then set on fire in an Alberta Parks maintenance compound near Park Lake north of Lethbridge.
An officer investigating the complaint discovered that someone had broken into the compound and stolen a number of keys and two work trucks, one of which was a 2021 Ford F250.
Shortly afterward a woman called police to report that Nicholas Rodney Scout and another man brought the stolen trucks to her residence, then drove away in the F250.
At about 2 p.m. a conservation officer had tracked the truck by GPS and notified police. Officers arrived at the last GPS location and found the truck abandoned on the side of Highway 2 where it had run out of gas. Police service dogs tracked the suspects and found Scout and two others hiding in a nearby culvert. Scout was also in possession of a Milwaukee power tool that had been stolen from the Greenwood Hutterite Colony south of Fort Macleod.
Scout, 37, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court to charges of possession of stolen property over $5,000 and possession of stolen property under $5,000, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Additional charges of possession of stolen property over $5,000, shopbreaking and commit theft, and arson, were withdrawn.
Lethbridge lawyer Tracy Hembroff told court her client is periodically employed, but struggles when he uses drugs.
“When he falls into either lack of employment or a little bit of substance use and abuse, he makes very, very, very poor choices,” Hembroff said.
Hembroff noted that Scout has spent more than enough time in custody since his arrest on these and other charges to deem his 90-day sentenced fully served. He will, however, remain in custody on other charges, to be spoken to next week.
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Throw away the key.