He hit homes in Abbotsford, Surrey, Langley, Hope and Chilliwack in early 2012.
Originally charged with 60 offences, the perpetrator eventually pleaded guilty to 32 counts of possession of stolen property, using a stolen credit card, possessing stolen ID, and two weapons charges.
He stashed a small mountain of stolen goods in an Aldergrove storage locker, in his vehicle, and in a Langley motel room.
These items included cameras, computers, iPods, TVs and other electronics; car and house keys; jewelry; cash; prescription drugs; and various forms of ID, including passports, Care Cards, social insurance cards, credit cards and three loaded guns.
Until his latest arrest, Dave Yaroslawsky was a one-man crime wave.
And we say latest because this is simply the most recent chapter of the criminal legacy left behind by this man, who has a criminal history dating back to 1995 – when he was 13 – and has 46 prior convictions for crimes such as assault, break and enter, and drug possession and trafficking.
You read that right … 46 convictions.
Crown is asking for a jail term of five to six years on this set of charges.
We’d like to ask something else.
How is it that Yaroslawsky could rack up that many convictions in the last two decades, and yet be free to carry on stealing and pillaging?
How is it possible this man not been identified as a habitual criminal and incarcerated accordingly?
The cost to society in terms of the property loss, law enforcement and court proceedings for which this one individual is responsible must run in the millions of dollars.
He is a hugely expensive poster boy for criminal justice reform.
