Man who broke into P.E.I. school and urinated in classroom sentenced
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SUMMERSIDE, PEI – A man who broke into a school in Borden-Carleton, PEI, before his arrest and urinated in one of the classrooms has been convicted.
According to the facts presented in court, Stephane David Bureau (aka Stephen David Bureau), 46, of no fixed address, arrived in Borden-Carleton from New Brunswick early December 5, 2022. He was on his way to Charlottetown but decided he needed a place to sleep for the night.
Between 1 and 1:30 am the Amherst Cove Consolidated alert was raised and RCMP were dispatched to investigate. The building was secured and the RCMP canine unit was brought in for a thorough search.
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Bureau was found lying in one of the classrooms and arrested.
In its summaries, the Crown paraphrased the accounts of the RCMP officers who arrested Bureau and later interviewed him, stating: “He picked up a brick and smashed the window to gain access to the school and went inside to sleep. He explained he didn’t want to disturb anything at school, so he urinated twice in a corner of the classroom.”
The FBI charged him and after processing told police he wanted to return to NB. He was dropped off at Water Street Tim Hortons in Summerside, which is near a transit point for passenger buses between the two provinces.
The next day, December 6, Bureau was twice seen entering the liquor store on Granville Street in Summerside and stealing a can of beer. He was found near Summerside Police Services, arrested and released.
Finally, early in the morning of December 8, police responded to a burglar alarm at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Granville Street. Officers recognized Bureau from surveillance video, found him a short distance away, and arrested him again.
“He was in the lobby of the National Bank getting cold and hungry so he decided to go to Shoppers, break the window and get in. He said he stole something to drink, something to eat and a pillow and then went back to the National Bank,” the crown said.
Bureau has been in custody since that third arrest.
Overall, he pleaded guilty to one count of forced entry, one count of violating a probation order, one count of theft of items worth less than $5,000, and one count of burglary and burglary.
Bureau has an extensive and related criminal record.
condemnation
He was sentenced to nine months in prison, but received credit for the time he had already spent a year and a half in pre-trial detention for 61 days.
After his release, he will remain on probation for 12 months and make up for the damage he caused to the school and pharmacy, as well as the two beer cans he stole.
Summerside does not currently have an emergency shelter for men. PEI’s native council, in cooperation with the provincial government, is in the process of opening one, but it is not yet operational and is expected to remain so for several weeks. Even so, anyone needing shelter in PEI can call 211 to make arrangements, and transportation to existing shelters, usually in Charlottetown, is available.
Bureau told the court that he was homeless, had a drinking problem and suffered from mental health problems.
Judge Nancy Orr strongly encouraged Bureau to seek treatment while incarcerated and to work with his parole officer to make some positive changes.
“They will try to help you so that when you get out you have somewhere to go, whether it’s in PEI or New Brunswick. So you don’t break in because you’re hungry or looking for a place to sleep, sir. I understand your problems, but this is unacceptable. These are crimes,” Orr said.
Bureau replied, “Okay, Your Honor. I understand. I will go to an animal shelter at that time.”
Colin MacLean is a reporter at the SaltWire Network on Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @JournalPMacLean.
