Smash-and-grab spree puts addict back in penitentiary

A Kitchener drug addict is headed back to the penitentiary after pleading guilty to more than a dozen charges in a smash-and-grab spree that targeted mom-and-pop businesses.

Matthew McCormick, 32, was sentenced to two years, on top of three months of pretrial custody, for crimes that began in February and continued through April.

McCormick got a penitentiary sentence in 2009 for a string of break-ins. He then followed the law for several years, working as a roofer.

But earlier this year, McCormick fell back into a life of drugs and crime.

McCormick, addicted to opioids, admitted to predawn break-ins at six Kitchener nail salons, two restaurants and a cellphone repair business.

“I couldn’t control the drug habit I had, and that’s why I went back to (crime),” he told Justice Scott Latimer.

“I didn’t do this because I wanted to.”

Most of the break-ins netted only small amounts of cash. Damage from smashed windows was extensive. Crown prosecutor Roger Dietrich said the targets were mom-and-pop businesses.

“They’re people, just like Mr. McCormick, who are trying to make a living,” Latimer said.

McCormick also admitted he resisted arrest by two Waterloo Regional Police officers.

“If he doesn’t get the drug issue under control, we’re all coming back (to court) once he’s released,” Dietrich said.

Defence lawyer Hal Mattson called McCormick’s crimes “very unsophisticated.”

He cut himself at one nail salon and the blood matched his DNA on file.

He was caught many times on video surveillance.