The man charged with attempted murder in Langley this week has a criminal record stretching back to 1994 and has spent large portions of his life behind bars.
Chad Allen Stewart, a 42-year-old Surrey man, also goes by the aliases Chad Allen, Allan Chad Stewart, and Jonathan Bower, according to online court records.
He’s currently in custody pending a Jan. 21 appearance in Surrey Provincial Court, charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm with the intent to wound or disfigure, and possession of a firearm contrary to an order. The attack took place in the early morning hours of Jan. 18, 2021.
The victim, a 27-year-old man, survived with critical injuries, and was comatose in hospital for a time after being shot, said Cpl. Holly Largy, spokesperson for the local RCMP.
The wounded man eventually recovered enough to speak to police officers, but he was left with long-term effects from the shooting, Largy said.
Police were not able to say if the shooting was connected to the ongoing gang conflict in the Lower Mainland.
Charges laid against Stewart over the years have included robbery, theft, possession of stolen property, fleeing from police, possession of a controlled substance, and breaching his probation.
He has been found guilty so frequently, that media reports in 2011 indicated he had already accumulated 50 criminal convictions.
That year, he was before a judge over a 2009 armed robbery in Maple Ridge, in which he brandished a large knife at restaurant staff before fleeing in a stolen car. He was arrested that day and spent most of the next two years in custody until a jury found him guilty.
“I do want to change,” Stewart told the judge after that conviction. “This is getting old and I’m tired of this.”
Persons charged with a criminal offence are considered not guilty until the charges are proven in court.
READ MORE: Man charged with attempted murder after Langley parking lot shooting
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