Jail for break and enters, theft, school damage

A man with 29 prior convictions in nine years who said he moved to Steinbach to get out of a life of crime was sentenced April 4 for committing crimes in Steinbach.

Tyler Vieira, 27, was handed 667 days in custody in Steinbach court.

He was found guilty of stealing a Toyota Highlander from Funk’s Toyota and driving through a fence at Elmdale school on Oct. 16, 2023. Vieira was on bail for break and enter and theft charges from Winnipeg at the time.

In total, Vieira was sentenced for charges in Winnipeg of break and enter to commit theft, possession of property obtained by crime, and possessing cocaine. The Steinbach charges pleaded guilty to include mischief of property over $5,000, operating a vehicle while prohibited, and theft of a motor vehicle.

Along with jail, Vieira got two years added to his driving prohibition, 18 months of supervised probation, cannot attend Funk’s Toyota or any of the several Winnipeg places he broke into, and must pay restitution of $12,710 to Funk’s Toyota and $3,833 to Hanover School Division.

He has been in custody since his arrest last April in Steinbach and received 545 days of enhanced credit, so only had 113 days left to serve.

“Mr. Vieira was sentenced less than two years ago for similar offences. At that time he received a sentence of 14 months,” said Judge Herbert Lawrence Allen during sentencing.

The judge said that sentence did not appear to have a deterrent effect and that there did not appear to be much effort towards rehabilitation prior to his sentencing hearing in March. Vieira told court he has been attending Bible study and Alcoholics Anonymous while in jail.

On Oct. 16, 2023, at about 10:50 p.m. Steinbach RCMP received a complaint from an employee at Super Splash about a break-in at Funk’s Toyota where the Highlander was seen driving out of the parking lot at a high rate of speed. The incident was caught on the Super Splash camera.

RCMP went to Funk’s and saw that the service door was ajar and the glass was broken. Two hours later at 12:50 a.m., police received a report of a white SUV parked on Elmdale School property that had gone through the chain link fence. When the police arrived they noticed the vehicle was unoccupied and that there was blood on the front passenger seat and on the outside of the driver’s door.

Police lifted fingerprints from the car, got DNA samples from the blood, and found a cell phone between the seats. Surveillance footage from the school showed Vieira exiting the SUV and running into his residence on Elmdale Street. DNA from the blood showed it was Vieira’s and the fingerprints were from his girlfriend. The home screen on the cellphone showed Vieira and his girlfriend. A warrant was issued for Vieira’s arrest and on April 25, 2024, he was arrested in Steinbach.

On April 17, 2023, at 5:30 a.m., Vieira broke into Urban Tactical in Winnipeg by smashing a large pane of glass. He and two co-accused were said to have stolen various items including a tactical carrier.

On May 4, 2023, at about 3 a.m., the court heard Vieira and the co-accused broke into Westside Sales and stole car keys as well as two vehicles from the lot. Those two vehicles were later recovered by Winnipeg police.

The court also heard that on May 6, 2023, the three broke into RightWay Auto stealing numerous sets of car keys followed by another break in on May 12, 2023, at about 4 a.m. where they broke into WCA Smart Auto stealing more car keys.

Then on May 13, in the early morning hours, the three came to a construction site and began stealing construction tools from an enclosed trailer on the property.

The owner of the trailer came to the site and caught them stealing his tools. Vieira was the driver of the getaway car and tried to flee, almost hitting the victim. The cost of the stolen tools totalled $30,000.

Later that day, at about 11:50 p.m., a Winnipeg police officer recognized the vehicle being driven by Vieira during the tool heist. He arrested all three suspects and a search of the car found a small canister with 23 grams of cocaine inside and the tactile carrier that was stolen on April 17. Officers got a search warrant for a Winnipeg address where they found the tools that were stolen on May 13 as well as items from different break and enters around Winnipeg.

After two months in jail, Vieira was released on bail with conditions where he decided to move to Steinbach to live with his mother on Elmdale Street.

It was about three months until he committed the Steinbach crimes.

Vieira has committed crimes since he was about 10 years old, court heard, and has struggled for years with addiction.

-With files from Svjetlana Mlinarevic