A Sarnia man has been sentenced to three months in jail for his role in a heist from a local lumber mill at the height of pandemic when prices were through the roof.
A Sarnia man has been sentenced to three months in jail for his role in a heist from a local lumber mill at the height of the pandemic when material prices were through the roof.
The court heard Dwayne Bristol and Herbert McDonald were seen on video surveillance pulling into Watson Timber Mart in Courtright in a Ford F-150 around 12:40 am on Jan. 10, 2021. The pickup truck had been reported stolen from a Corunna auto repair shop the previous night.
The initial heist didn’t go as planned since the treated wood was frozen. The pair left but returned about 40 minutes later and successfully loaded about $1,250 worth of 1.27-centimetre plywood and fled. Shortly before 6 am, they returned and left with a similar load.
As Lambton provincial police investigated the theft later that day, officers were told the pickup had been spotted at a gas station in nearby Oil Springs. Police got that surveillance footage and saw McDonald pumping gas around 2 pm while Bristol went into the store to pay for the fuel in cash.
The pair left in the stolen truck, which was discovered ablaze the next day on Plowing Match Road near Petrolia Line.
McDonald, then a 45-year-old St. Clair Township resident, pleaded guilty in July 2021 to theft worth less than $5,000 and possession of stolen property valued at less than $5,000. He was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay more than $2,200 to Timber Mart.
“Some would argue that, during the pandemic, the theft of lumber is equivalent to the theft of gold for what they are charging for the price of wood these days,” David Rows, Lambton’s former Crown attorney, said at the time. “These are not insignificant charges.”
In June 2022, Bristol pleaded guilty to the same two charges – neither man admitted to stealing or destroying the pickup – but his sentencing was delayed more than seven months after he fired his lawyer. Once the dust finally settled, he was sentenced to three months in jail – the Crown asked for seven months – and handed the same hefty bill as his partner in crime for the stolen wood.
“I made a mistake. I went with somebody and stole some wood,” Bristol said as he represented himself in court. “That was my involvement in the case.”
Despite having a prior criminal record, including past convictions for similar offences, he hasn’t been in trouble for a while, he added.
“I’m a good person. I’m the good guy,” he said. “I made a mistake. I lost my job because of COVID. I saw an opportunity to make some easy money and I took it.”
Bristol also pointed out he was using intravenous drugs at the time, but has since stopped and only smokes crystal meth occasionally.
“Drugs don’t make you a bad person,” he said.
Justice Krista Lynn Leszczynski agreed, but also pointed to potential mental-health issues he may now be dealing with linked to drug use. She added a one-year probation order banning him from contacting McDonald’s or going to the lumber yard or the auto repair shop.
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