Trying to steal thousands of dollars in merchandise from Jay’s Lace It Up in Port Alberni to pay off a drug debt has cost a Nanaimo woman 535 days in jail.
In Port Alberni Provincial Court, Judge D. Cowling sentenced Robin Schultz, 29, to 535 days in jail and 18 months probation for motor vehicle theft, break and enter and failing to stop, provincial prosecutor Graham Merke said.
Schultz has been in custody since April 22, and received credit for time served.
The theft of the vehicle — a 2005 Toyota Tacoma — occurred in Nanaimo.
The prosecution sought a two-year prison sentence, while the defence sought a lesser jail sentence and a conditional sentence order.
Schultz admitted to having a drug addiction, which fuelled the crime. “She intended to pay off a drug debt,” Merke said.
On the morning of April 22, Schultz and a male accomplice smashed the windows at Jay’s Lace It Up and stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise before fleeing.
Police chased the couple on Hwy. 4 after they failed to pull over. They drove the stolen truck over an RCMP spike belt placed across the highway at Hilliers Road by Oceanside RCMP. The vehicle continued on but drove into a ditch at Qualicum Beach.
Schultz was apprehended after a foot chase.
The second person — who police say is Pierre Gino Guidotti, 39 — escaped and is still at large.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com