Update: Lisa Goddard was arrested by Abbotsford Police on the evening of Saturday, March 28 after someone recognized her in public and called police.
The Abbotsford Police Department has issued a warrant for the arrest of a woman previously convicted of stealing poppy collection boxes in Abbotsford and Mission.
Const. Paul Walker said Lisa Marie Goddard, 30, is accused of breaching the conditions of her probation, although the exact details of the breach were not available.
The warrant was issued on Wednesday and is related to a breach that allegedly occurred on March 5, Walker said.
Goddard was sentenced in May 2014 to six months in jail for stealing a poppy collection box from a liquor store in Mission, as well as using an identity document without lawful excuse.
The following month, she received a four-month concurrent sentence for two similar thefts in Abbotsford, meaning her time was lumped in with the sentence she was already serving for the Mission theft.
Goddard’s jail term was to be followed by one year of probation.
The thefts for which Goddard was sentenced occurred in November 2013.
Boxes filled with Remembrance Day poppies are placed every year by members of the Royal Canadian Legion at various businesses in Abbotsford and Mission. The public is invited to leave a donation in exchange for any poppies they take.
Legion volunteers who were picking up the collection boxes at some of the locations in November 2013 were told that a woman had already done the task, and a report was filed with police.
The stolen funds were estimated to be up to $3,000.
Goddard was identified mainly through video surveillance footage.
Her lawyer at her sentencing hearing on the Abbotsford charges said that Goddard had committed the crimes when she was at a low point in her life.
The lawyer said that Goddard had relapsed on drugs and had become involved with a man who was also addicted and came up with the idea of stealing the poppy boxes for drug money.
Goddard, the single parent of a young son, was remorseful for her actions and had been taking several programs while in prison to address her mental health, parenting and addiction issues, her lawyer said at the time.
Anyone with information about Goddard’s whereabouts is asked to call the Abbotsford Police Department at 604-859-5225 or text abbypd (222973).
