Eight months in jail for vehicle theft and McDonald’s break-in

A man was sentenced Wednesday to eight months in jail over stolen vehicles and stolen electronics from a local McDonald’s.

Jason William Higdon appeared before the Medicine Hat Courthouse Wednesday from the Calgary Remand Centre, to enter pleas to multiple charges, some that stem back to almost a year ago and had originally been set for trial.

Police received a report on Sept. 16 that the new McDonald’s — which was under construction in the north end of the city — had been broken into, damaged and had various items stolen including televisions, a digital menu and tools.

Higdon and his co-accused were later located by police in a stolen Dodge Caravan outside a residence. Inside the vehicle and Higdon’s hotel suite, police located and recovered some of the items from McDonald’s.

The decades-old stolen vehicle was not an expensive one, noted the Crown during sentencing, but its theft had a “significant impact” on the victim, who was using it to get to both work and school.

A judge ordered that Higdon pay $5,202 in restitution to the McDonald’s, as well as $507.50 to the owner of one of the stolen vehicles.

Higdon also pled guilty to being in possession of stolen property over $5,000 for a separate incident. A Medicine Hat woman reported on July 23 that her 2012 Dodge Ford had been stolen. Coincidentally, she happened to see her vehicle the next day at a local gas bar, and called police.

Police attended the scene and arrested the occupants of the vehicle, which included Higdon.

Higdon was granted 48 days of credit toward his sentence due to pretrial custody.