Man sentenced for breaking into business yard next to police compound

Police didn’t have any difficulty finding a 33-year-old Blood Reserve man who broke into a business yard directly beside the police compound on the northside.

A police officer wasn’t looking for Nathan Luke Brewer when he and service dog Myke were patrolling the compound at about 1 a.m. on April 9 of this year. Myke, however, ran to the west side of the compound and showed interest in a neighbouring compound owned by Lethbridge Basement. The officer didn’t have any trouble spotting the suspect, who was wearing a high visibility vest, before losing sight of him. After a brief search Myke ran to a pickup truck, where the officer found Brewer lying on the rear seat and arrested him. During a search, officers found Brewer with a padlock and set of keys. He was also wearing a tactical vest, the type of which is sold at Lethbridge Tactical, which was recently broken into. While Brewer was being booked at the police station, two keys fell from his pocket, one of which matched the truck in which Brewer was found.

Brewer, who has a criminal record that includes convictions for break-ins, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Lethbridge court of justice to a charge of break and enter. He was sentenced to six months in jail, but given full credit for time he has already spent in custody, effectively completing his sentence. He remains in custody, however, on other charges.

Margaret Morse, student at law, told court that at the time of the offences Brewer was dealing with several challenges in his life, including the death of his mother earlier in the year, which led to depression.

She said Brewer witnessed a lot of violence growing up, and he used marijuana for the first time when he was five years old, which later led to the use of harder drugs, including fentanyl. Morse pointed out, however, that during the past several months in custody Brewer had time to reflect on his life and he wants to upgrade his education and work.

“As I was doing my time here I really found out who I was, as a person, my background and where I come from, where I originally come from,” Brewer said. “One of my main goals is to actually become a teacher, like a theologian.”