A man who stole several expensive items from the local Walmart earlier this year was sentenced to a hefty fine and ordered to pay for what he stole.
Joseph Martin Decoteau pleaded guilty to one count of theft, which included three separate incidents at the store.
Decoteau was arrested on Jan. 23 after he was spotted on store video cameras walking out one of the store’s emergency exits with a stand mixer. Once outside he passed off the goods to an unidentified woman, who quickly spirited them away.
Store security officers reviewed the footage over the previous weeks and found two more occasions when he did something remarkably similar, once exiting with a television valued at more than $800 and another time leaving with another mixer, a water cooler and another television.
Decoteau apologized to the court and said he deeply regretted having done such a stupid thing.
Judge Bruce Garriock, said he was concerned that this wasn’t just one isolated incident.
“It wasn’t just one thing, it was stupid things over a period of time.”
Garriock sentenced Decoteau to a $1,500 fine as well as requiring him to pay back the store for the items he stole. He will be on probation for six months, with the major requirement being that he reimburse the store.
A young man was sentenced to a series of fines after he was apprehended by the long paw of the law. Shane Allan Kemps pleaded guilty Monday to single counts of breaching his bail conditions, resisting arrest and simple drug possession, and was handed $600 in fines.
Police visited Kemps’ home twice, on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22, trying to execute a warrant on an unrelated crime. When they arrived the first day and knocked on the front door, they suspect Kemps promptly ran out the back.
When they returned the next day, they placed a canine officer along with his dog at the back door and when Kemps made a similar jump he found he had nowhere to run.
After arresting him on the warrant Kemp was released, but officers returned the next day to see if he was respecting a court ordered curfew. When they arrived after 10 p.m. to see if he was at home they found he was not, leading to another charge.
When he was arrested on another issue several weeks later they found him in possession of a small amount of marijuana.
