Robbery case returning to court

The case against a 32-year-old man charged in connection with the robbery of a 77-year-old woman more than a year ago is set to return to court in a month.

The matter for Sheldon Wayne Wilson was in Lethbridge court of justice Thursday, where the defence requested an adjournment to allow time to receive and review disclosure from the Crown’s office.

Lethbridge police arrested Wilson last December, more than a year after the woman was accosted and robbed. He was charged with robbery and released with conditions following a judicial interim release hearing.

The accused made his first court appearance on Jan. 19, but it was adjourned while he applied to Legal Aid for a lawyer.

Police reported that on Nov. 4, 2022 the elderly woman was assaulted in the parking lot of the Bank of Montreal in the 600 block of 4 Avenue South, where a man grabbed her keys and took off in her vehicle.

“Investigation determined the senior had parked her white Hyundai Santa Fe SUV and was making her way inside when a male grabbed her from behind, forcibly took her keys and threw her to the ground,” police said in a news release. “He proceeded to her vehicle and left the area at a high rate of speed. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries.”

Police found the SUV a day later abandoned on the side of Highway 3 east of the city.

An agent for the defence said Thursday that Lethbridge lawyer Greg White is new to the file and needs time to receive disclosure, and the matter was adjourned to March 27. The Crown also noted it took police several months to investigate the crime before they were able to lay charges.