‘It boggles my mind’: judge astounded by past police release of prolific thief accused of striking local businesses again and again

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This article was published 04/12/2024 (277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man charged Monday with breaking into more than 15 city businesses has a long record of property crimes that didn’t dissuade police from releasing him from custody following a prior crime spree targeting his West End neighbours, court records show.

“What were (police) thinking?” said provincial court Judge Rob Finlayson at a February 2023 sentencing hearing for John David Nickerson. “It boggles my mind.”

Nickerson, then 34, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and was sentenced to 20 months in custody and 18 months supervised probation. At the time of his sentencing, Nickerson had 35 prior criminal convictions, including 15 break and enters, three thefts and two robberies.

The case is a prime example of catch-and-release — when a suspect is caught, charged and then let go by police or given bail by a judge, only to recommit a crime. Often, the offender is driven by a drug addiction. The practice has been roundly criticized by victims, including business operators and homeowners, and the public, and has eroded confidence in the justice system.

Court heard Nickerson was arrested March 7, 2022, after he stole a snowblower and string trimmer from the garage of a Valour Road neighbour and was released by police on an appearance notice.

On May 4, Nickerson broke into the car of another neighbourhood resident and stole power tools worth nearly $700. A week later, he broke into another car and stole $3,000 worth of tools. On May 20, he stole $600 worth of tools from a neighbour’s garage before he was tackled in the back lane by the homeowner’s son and held for police.

Police arrested Nickerson for all three break and enters and again released him on undertaking (an agreement by an accused to abide by certain conditions, including appearing in court, in exchange for release from custody).

“I appreciate (police) are busy and don’t want to spend time, necessarily, in lockup, but there is absolutely no way they should have released (Nickerson) on an undertaking,” Finlayson said.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “It defies logic to release somebody with a record like this who is already on charge.”

Nickerson was rearrested the following July after security video captured him stealing tools from an Ashburn Street home. He remained in custody until his sentencing.

Court at the time heard Nickerson had a 20-year history of drug-addiction struggles, most recently with fentanyl, and suffered from auditory hallucinations for which he had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication.

“He openly admits this crime spree… was to support his fentanyl habit,” said defence lawyer Tara Walker.

Nickerson told court he was now ready to seek treatment for his drug addiction.

“I finally hit rock bottom and I want to get myself some help because I’m not getting any younger,” he said.

Nickerson is now charged with 17 counts of breaking and entering and one count of possession of a weapon for alleged offences committed between Nov. 3 and Dec. 2.

Police say officers were sent to a restaurant on the 200 block of Provencher Boulevard Monday at 4:55 a.m. after a report of a break and enter.

Officers arrived to find a smashed window and two suspects inside the building. One was immediately taken into custody but the other ran out, police said in a news release. When an officer managed to chase him down, the suspect got him in the face with bear spray. The officer was still able to place the suspect in handcuffs and a knife was found in his possession, police said.

“It defies logic to release somebody with a record like this who is already on charge.”–Judge Rob Finlayson

 

The officer received medical treatment after being sprayed.

Surveillance video linked one of the suspects to break-ins and thefts at more than 15 businesses, mostly restaurants in the St. James and Provencher neighbourhoods, between Nov. 3 and Dec. 2.

One St. James restaurant was hit three separate times between Nov. 3 and Nov. 8.

The man is also accused of robbing restaurants on Madison Street, St. Matthews Avenue, Euclid Avenue, Sargent Avenue, Empress Street, Border Street and Provencher Boulevard.

A beauty salon on Henderson Highway, mechanical business on St. James Street, construction store on Century Street and tattoo parlour on Provencher were also broken into.

Nickerson and co-accused Greysky Ridge Olson, 23, remain in custody.

Olson, who was arrested only for the Monday incident, is charged with assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, possession of a weapon and one count of break and enter.

One restaurant owner said it was frustrating to hear one of the accused had been previously arrested on similar charges, only to be released by police.

Nitin Luthra asked that the name of his restaurant not be shared, hoping not to deter potential diners, but said break-ins have got out of control in the area.

“They will come again… and they’re going to be breaking (into) other restaurants again,” he said. “They should be in jail for life.”

Luthra said thieves entered in the early hours of Nov. 12 and took off with his cash register, laptop computer and a camera stored at the restaurant, costing him several thousand dollars. He’s insured, but filing a claim will spike his rates, so he’s still unsure if he will.

Handling potential danger has become part of his job. The landlord of the building hired a security guard, but is assigned only to show up semi-regularly throughout the day.

Luthra has stopped letting female staff work night shifts and has watched surrounding businesses deal with break-ins, as well.

He said a customer eating at his restaurant came out after their meal to find their vehicle broken into and pilfered.

“How can we run a business here, in this kind of atmosphere?”–Restaurant owner Nitin Luthra

“I don’t know what’s going on in Canada, this is very bad…. How can we run a business here, in this kind of atmosphere?” he said.

Both Luthra and Charmaine Bautista, who owns West End Filipino eatery Casa Ilocandia, say police did not visit their restaurants after the break-ins.

“We just got a phone call,” said Bautista. “They just asked us what happened, and nobody came here.”

Her restaurant was hit less than two hours after thieves targeted Luthra’s on Nov. 12, and she, too, had her cash register stolen and had to replace a broken window.

Both were victims on what appeared to be the accused’s busiest day of the break-in spree; police say five businesses were targeted between 2:30 and 6:52 a.m.

While Bautista had heard from customers that at least one other restaurant had been broken into in the past month, she was surprised to hear so many businesses had been impacted.

“It’s not easy to make a business, and then (hearing) they’re just doing that to every business, right?.… Not all businesses are very successful right now, there’s so (much) competition in the area, and not all restaurants and all businesses are doing really well with their profit,” she said.

“And then (thieves) will do these kind of things to the business owners. It’s so frustrating.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca