City man prohibited from going to park and pool

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on December 2, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 32-year-old Lethbridge man has been prohibited from going to Henderson Lake Park after being caught breaking into the swimming pool last summer.

On Aug. 14 Aaron Arnold Laley broke into the pool, scaled the mechanical building wall, unscrewed a vent on the roof and lowered himself down. Once inside he shut off the power to the building.

“As a result of the power being shut off to the mechanical equipment, it caused the chlorine injector to malfunction, requiring it to be replaced,” Crown Prosecutor Marshall Gourlay said Friday in Lethbridge court of justice, where Laley pleaded guilty to one count of shopbreaking to commit mischief.

Employees found Laley hiding under a vehicle just outside the building.

Gourlay said he was at a loss to explain why Laley broke into the building and switched off the electrical breakers.

“This didn’t seem to make any sense to me from the get-go,” Gourlay said. “It didn’t serve any purpose, it was wilful vandalism at best and there was nothing to be gained from it.”

Brooks lawyer Israel Waive explained his client is homeless and suffers from drug addiction.

“On the day in question, he advised me that it was very cold and he didn’t have any place to go on that day and was just looking for a place to warm himself up,” Waive said. “He’s very remorseful.”

Laley was sentenced to four months in jail, but credited for 51 days he spent in remand custody, leaving him with 69 days to serve. He will also be on probation for one year, during which he is prohibited from being anywhere in Henderson Lake Park, including the swimming pool.

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