Vernon Courthouse
(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)
February 09, 2017 - 11:30 AM
LUMBY - A North Okanagan man who robbed a convenience store and traumatized the lone teenager on shift will have time to think things over in jail.
Thomas Antoine August Belanger, a Lumby man in his mid-30s, was sentenced this week to nearly two years in prison for an April 2016 robbery at Mac’s Convenience Store in Lumby.
During the robbery, a young woman under 19 years of age was held at knifepoint. At the time, police said she wasn’t physically hurt, but was significantly traumatized.
According to WorkSafe B.C., which investigated the incident, it was her first time working alone on the night shift. The agency found two safety violations.
Belanger and an accomplice, fellow Lumby resident Keegan Reed, were arrested shortly after the incident and charged with robbery, unlawful confinement and uttering threats.
Belanger was sentenced to 23 months in jail for robbery and unlawful confinement, according to court documents. Records show he was in custody leading up to the sentence hearing, meaning he is eligible to receive time served and reduce his new jail time. He will also be on probation for three years after his release, and is banned for possessing firearms for 10 years. He was ordered to pay a $100 victim surcharge fee.
His co-accused, Keegan Reed, in his early 20s, next appears in Vernon Provincial Court March 15 on charges of unlawful confinement, uttering threats, robbery, and accessory after the fact. He is also scheduled for trial on March 28 for one count of breaching conditions.
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