Trainer threatened to slit shop owner’s throat

KITCHENER — A personal trainer with a dark side threatened to slit a business owner’s throat and burn down his store, court heard on Monday.

Jeff Guanzon, 31, of Guelph pleaded guilty in Kitchener court to a string of crimes; robbery, fraud under $5,000, breaking court orders and refusing to give a breath sample.

“There are two different Mr. Guanzons,” his defence lawyer, Ranney Hintsa, told court.

One is the man who behaves professionally when working as a personal trainer, she said. The other is the man who turns to crime when he’s angry. He has a long criminal record.

“Mr. Guanzon, of course, has to decide which Mr. Guanzon he wants to be permanently,” Hintsa said.

Guanzon has taken a business management course at Conestoga College and hopes to open a business in St. Jacobs.

He has previously worked as a personal trainer in Guelph.

On July 28, 2016, at 12:54 p.m., he entered the Mac Repair Man store on King Street East in Kitchener, court was told.

He accused the owner of tampering with a computer he had dropped off for repairs and demanded he hand over two computers.

The owner, who was in the store with his wife, initially did not comply and asked Guanzon to let his wife leave. Guanzon refused.

“If you call the police, I will slit your throat and slit hers,” Guanzon told him.

When the owner gave Guanzon a laptop, he left, saying, “If you call the cops I will burn down the store.” Police failed to track him down. A 5:57 a.m. on Jan. 1 of this year, Guanzon was driving on Franklin Boulevard in Cambridge. His car was weaving.

An off-duty police officer was driving behind him. When Guanzon pulled over into a parking lot, the officer approached.

Guanzon smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. It turned out he was a suspended driver.

He refused to give a breath

sample.

In his car, police found empty beer cans, a black air gun that resembled a police-issue Glock pistol, five .22-calibre bullets, several knives, three expandable batons, binoculars, a small amount of crystal methamphetamine and debt lists.

At the time, he was on probation and under a 10-year ammunition ban and five-year weapons ban.

On Nov. 22, 2015, he defrauded the Walmart on Pinebush Road in Cambridge. He grabbed a bar stool from the store and pretended he had bought it. He took it to customer service and got a refund on his “purchase.”

A loss prevention officer approached him as he left the store, but Guanzon got away.

The defence and prosecution jointly sought a jail sentence of seven and a half months, which Justice Pamela Borghesan called “very low.”

She said she wouldn’t have been surprised if the prosecution had asked for double or triple that amount of time, saying the computer shop robbery must have terrified the owner and his wife. The judge agreed to the joint recommendation.

There were “triable issues” in the case, including a question of whether the search of Guanzon’s car was legal.

The judge said Guanzon has a lot going in his favour. He is very articulate and has supportive parents.

“You have great potential,” Borghesan said. “There’s time to live up to that full potential and put all this behind you.”

With enhanced credit for pretrial custody, Guanzon has another three months to serve.

Borghesan said she hopes two years of probation will help get him on the right path.

He was ordered to give a DNA sample, handed a one-year driving ban and faces a lifetime ban on possessing prohibited weapons.