Homeless man violates bail for break and enter, assault with weapon charges

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This article was published 16/02/2024 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who violated his probation and bail release orders by walking away from Teen Challenge, not doing his community service work, and failing to report to his probation officer received a 75-day jail sentence in Steinbach court Feb. 9.

Tyler Christian Wiebe was on probation and given 25 hours community service work for possessing property obtained by crime under $5,000. He did not report to that community service and missed meetings with probation services.

Wiebe was on bail for charges from June 3 for which he was arrested June 5 for break and enter, and assault with a weapon when he left Teen Challenge. Residing at Teen Challenge was a condition of his release on Oct. 3. He left by Oct. 11.

The Jan. 26 trial for the break and enter, and assault with a weapon did not happen when charges were stayed by the Crown when the primary witness was missing with a warrant out for them as well.

Wiebe did not show up to the trial date to find out his good fortune and was picked up on Jan. 29 by police.

Wiebe spent 133 days in jail, worth 200 days of credit because it was before being sentenced.

The defence gave a story that Steinbach court has heard about Wiebe before: that he is homeless and living out of a shopping cart, had a rough upbringing, and was trying to turn a corner.

Judge Murray Thompson was not pleased with Wiebe’s consistent disregard for the law, especially on the probation order.

“Your only condition was to take 25 hours of community service work, and you turned that into three warrants, a bunch of court time. So not only did you not give back to the community, you cost us money. You cost yourself a whole bunch of days in jail,” said Judge Thompson.

Wiebe has been in Steinbach court before. Charges in the Southeast go back over 15 years, including a stabbing in Niverville in 2008, carrying knives, BB guns resembling real firearms and a lock pick set during a 9:25 a.m. Main Street arrest in August 2021, and being found with stolen copper after police followed the unspooled wire to his homeless encampment where he and others were stripping the wire around a bonfire.

Wiebe received one year of probation for the wire theft in Steinbach court March 10.