THUNDER BAY - A man who threatened a store clerk with a bottle of alcohol after he was caught trying to steal merchandise from a convenience store was sentenced to a 12-month conditional sentence order by an Ontario Court Justice.
Bernie Moonias, 41, pleaded guilty via audio in Thunder Bay provincial court on Thursday, April 2, to one count of robbery and failing to comply with two probation orders.
Court heard Moonias was bound by a probation order not to attend liquor stores in Thunder Bay. Police responded to calls on Feb.12 and 13 regarding Moonias being present at the LCBO.
On Feb. 13, police attended the LCBO on Cumberland Street to an attempted theft call. According to Crown Attorney Katrina van Kessel, Moonias had been caught by LCBO staff trying to conceal a bottle of alcohol in his pants. He refused to return the merchandise and argued with staff before eventually leaving the store. He was later arrested.
Subsequently, on March 6, police were called to a Circle K store regarding two males stealing items. The clerk asked one of the men who appeared intoxicated if he was going to pay for the items he had put in his jacket. The man, later identified as Moonias, pulled a bottle of alcohol from his jacket and held it in a threatening manner and said ‘do you want to go one-on-one?’ according to van Kessel.
The male left the store and he was later located by police and arrested for robbery.
Moonias’s lawyer, Tyler Woods, told the court via audio that his client suffers from intergenerational trauma from residential schools and was exposed to various forms of violence and abuse. Woods says Moonias also suffers from alcohol addiction.
Van Kessel described Moonias as a habitual offender when it comes to property offences and has a criminal record that is “quite aggravating”.
Moonias was sentenced to a 12-month conditional sentence order by Justice Elaine Burton. The sentence will require him to be on house arrest for the first six months and the remaining six months he will abide by a night curfew.
Part of his sentence will also require him to attend counselling for substance abuse and abstain from consuming alcohol.
Moonias has spent 26 days in custody and was granted credit for 39 days for the probation breach charges.
