An extensive video surveillance system at AA Mini Storage on Cienar Dr. in Nanaimo helped nab a prolific offender. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

prolific offender

Nanaimo man arrested with homemade taser and break-in tools sentenced

Sep 22, 2020 | 6:04 AM

NANAIMO — A longstanding heroin addiction continues haunting a Nanaimo man jailed for an unsuccessful break-in to a local mini storage compound.

Spencer Lee Schaeffer, 35, was sentenced in provincial court in Nanaimo to eight months in jail after pleading guilty to four charges in relation to an incident earlier this year.

Crown prosecutor James Kulla told court Schaeffer cut a hole through the chain-linked fence of AA Mini Storage on Cienar Dr. just before 5 a.m. on April 17, 2020.

Police were called and Schaeffer was arrested on site shortly after.

Court was told he had a backpack loaded with numerous items, including a homemade taser.

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“It had an electric arc between two brass tongs, it created a lot of cracking when it’s operated, similar to the sound of a police conducted energy weapon,” Kulla said.

A homemade dagger, ammunition, several break-in tools and drug paraphernalia were also found in the backpack.

The incident was captured on security video.

NanaimoNewsNOW learned Schaeffer rented a storage unit at the facility and that his lease agreement would not be renewed in May for breach of contract.

During a joint submission on Monday, Sept. 21 accepted by Judge Ron Lamperson, defence lawyer Kelly Bradshaw said a heroin addiction is a common link in Schaeffer’s constant cycle in and out of jail since his youth.

Bradshaw said Schaeffer relapsed last month after he went to treatment and was recently badly beaten up on the streets of Surrey.

“He doesn’t want that life, he was trying back in May, June and July to really stay clean and to focus on recovery,” Bradshaw said.

She outlined challenges Schaeffer has faced, including the murder of the mother of his son in a drug related stabbing in Nob Hill Park 2011.

Judge Lamperson recommended Schaeffer serve his sentence at the Nanaimo Correctional Centre in order to participate in the highly regarded Guthrie House Therapeutic Community rehab program.

“The only way that your life is going to improve is if you’re able to stay off the drugs,” Lamperson said pointedly.

Schaeffer briefly addressed court via teleconference from the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre, acknowledging he needs to get a handle on his drug problem.

His jail sentence works out to six months due to pre-trial credit, while a year probation with numerous conditions will apply post-release.

Schaeffer’s brother Joshua awaits sentencing for a pair of driving related offences, most notably a Jan. 6, 2020 rampage where several buildings and vehicles were rammed by a truck at Country Club Centre.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes