Court Briefs: July 11

No one was injured when the first device went off in the parking lot.

A staff member at Safe Harbour located the second device inside their building. It was moved outside and later detonated by the RCMP explosive disposal unit out of Edmonton.

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A local man convicted previously for sexually assaulting and harassing women is spending the next few months behind bars following an incident in Red Deer.

City Mounties responded to the Superstore parking lot after a male had approached a female and her young child, engaging in a conversation with the female.

The man was alleged to have committed indecent acts when he returned to his vehicle. RCMP say they arrested the male while he was committing the offence.

Daniel Leonard, 41, of Red Deer was charged with one count of committing an indecent act and one count of breach of probation.

He pleaded guilty on June 19 and was sentenced to 300 days behind bars followed by 30 months’ probation.

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A former ATB employee in Sylvan Lake who admitted to stealing more than a million dollars through fraudulent transactions will spend three years behind bars.

Sarah Miles Brouilette, 39, pleaded guilty in January to one count of fraud over $5,000. She was sentenced on June 25 to 36 months in prison minus credit for one month spent in custody.

Sylvan Lake RCMP began their investigation into the matter in August 2017 after receiving a report from ATB alleging an employee had forged a customer’s signature and obtained a loan in their name.

The Red Deer RCMP fraud unit took over the file and worked closely with ATB Corporate Investigations to trace a series of fraudulent transactions over four years. The investigation uncovered numerous loans obtained by using the personal information of clients and other people known to the suspect for a total amount of $1,148,020.

Brouilette was terminated from her position as a loan officer with ATB in August 2017 once the allegations surfaced.

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A man charged after Red Deer RCMP thwarted an abduction attempt earlier this year has been sentenced to three months behind bars.

Brian Stephens, 39, face 19 charges relating to stolen property and firearms. He pleaded guilty on July 4 to unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession of a prohibited firearm and was handed 120 days in prison, 12 months’ probation and a 10-year firearms ban.

On February 7 at approximately 7:50 p.m., City Mounties received a call from a woman in Edmonton indicating she was concerned that one of her relatives had possibly been abducted in Red Deer.

An investigation by police led them to a residence in the Highland Green neighbourhood where officers intercepted a stolen vehicle and performed what was described as a “high-risk take down.”

Both the victim and suspect were unharmed in the incident.

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Sentencing will take place this fall for a case in which a Red Deer County woman was assaulted while having her truck stolen.

Innisfail RCMP received a complaint on the afternoon of October 16 of a robbery at a rural property in Red Deer County.

The victim reported that a man had knocked on the door of her residence. When she answered he forced his way into the home, assaulted her and took the keys to her truck. He left the home and she followed him asking him to return her purse, at which point he demanded money. She complied, gave the man money and he fled the property in her truck. The victim sustained minor injuries.

Her truck was equipped with OnStar and RCMP were able to track it to a location in Red Deer. The vehicle was eventually located and the suspect was arrested without incident.

Lyle Whitesel was originally scheduled for trial on July 5 but the matter was adjourned and he is now slated for sentencing in Red Deer provincial court on October 7.

by Troy Gillard

Court Briefs: July 11

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