Dealership drive-away nets thief 30 days

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on April 21, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 32-year-old Lethbridge man has given a whole new meaning to the term test drive.
Andrew Michael Marshall received a short jail sentence after he drove a 2009 Hyundai Elantra off a dealership lot in March, without anyone’s permission.
At about 11 a.m. on March 4 Lethbridge police received a call from a Lethbridge Hyundai employee who said a man entered the dealership and asked to take various vehicles from the dealership.
He was not permitted to take any vehicles because of his strange behaviour, but unknown to employees he took a set of keys for an Elantra – which had been shipped from Ontario by its owners – and drove off.
Police officers identified Marshall after reviewing video surveillance footage, and called his home in Legacy Ridge on the northside. Marshall’s mother told police her son had recently been at a convenience store nearby, and video footage from the business showed Marshall was still in possession of the vehicle and had purchased gasoline.
RCMP arrested Marshall just before midnight the following day in Milk River and the vehicle was recovered.
Marshall pleaded guilty Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court to one count of motor vehicle theft and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. He was, however, given credit for time he already spent in pre-trial custody, which completes his sentence.
Lethbridge lawyer Vincent Guinan told court his client, who has two children, was struggling at the time with drug addiction, but is now doing better.
“He accumulated a number of police reports because of a horrible addiction to meth,” Guinan explained. “He’s doing a lot better now, he’s more sober, and he’s thinking about treatment.”
Although his 30-day sentence is concluded, Marshall will remain in custody while he deals with numerous additional criminal charges, including assault with a weapon, arson, mischief, threats to cause death or bodily harm and break and enter.
He returns to court on those matters next week.

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