Police track escaped prisoner
Published Tuesday November 18th, 2008
Convicted robber still at large, escaped custody while working at Moncton Wesleyan Church
A 44-year-old Westmorland Institution inmate with a long history of crimes, including sexual assault and assault with a weapon, escaped from a Moncton church last night, triggering a police search through much of the west end and downtown of Moncton.
Stephen Chester was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2004 for two robbery offences against Moncton store clerks in separate 2003 incidents, one of them while armed with a knife. In one case, a clerk was tied up and left in a bathroom. In the other case, a clerk was locked in a room.
Last night, Chester was part of a group of several inmates doing work at the Moncton Wesleyan Church at 945 St. George Boulevard when he slipped away shortly after 7 p.m.
He was last seen wearing dark blue track pants with lines on the sides and a dark blue jacket with red stripes on the sleeves. Underneath the track suit, he was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt. At the time of his disappearance he had scruffy facial hair.
Chester weighs about 190 pounds (86 kg) and is approximately 5'10" (180 cm) tall. He was still at large early this morning.
The incidents for which he was currently serving time occurred Oct. 6, 2003 at Andrew's Cottage, a gift shop on St. George Boulevard, and Nov. 1, 2003 at VL Music on Main Street.
In the first incident, Chester, pretending to be shopping for a Christmas gift for his mother, came up behind a female clerk, grabbed her by the waist and slid a knife to her throat and told her to continue to the back room where he asked for cash, credit cards and finally the money from the front cash register. He left after shutting the woman in the room.
The second incident occurred in much the same way only, in this case, Chester tied up the woman in a bathroom before leaving.
The clerk was able to free herself quickly and alert police. Neither woman was injured.
Court heard at the time that he was intoxicated at the time and in need of money for his gambling addiction.
Court also heard he had spent considerable periods of his life in prison, "with little bouts of freedom between incarceration."
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Hat's off to the Moncton Wesleyan Church for finding free labour and putting us all in jeopardy. Maybe our system needs a look at. Maybe we residents should be informed about what is going on in our neighbourhoods before it happens.
Your TAX dollars hard at work!!!
Pipogoes Augustine was serving two years for various thefts
A4
DORCHESTER - An inmate escaped early yesterday from a minimum-security prison in southeastern New Brunswick, officials at the Westmorland Institution confirmed.
Pipogoes Augustine, 30, was serving two years for various theft charges at the prison in Dorchester.
He was noticed missing at 3:50 a.m. yesterday morning.
The RCMP was notified and the Correctional Service of Canada is conducting a review.
Corrections spokesman Andre Veniot says Augustine was last seen during the previous head-count around 12:30 a.m.
The Westmorland facility has no fences or perimeter walls. It is used as the last stop for inmates before they are released from incarceration.
Veniot says escapes tend to occur during the summer months and offenders are usually recaptured or turn themselves in within a short period of time.
Do you really think that the Wesleyan Church called around looking for free labor, or do you think there is more of a chance that they were asked to help in creating a work project?
I agree with these work projects. I say that, and the police drove up and down my street last night, (which is close to the Church) looking for the guy. The problem is not the work projects, or the organizations who support them. These projects are very much needed for rehabilitation.....NOT free labor. There is an obvious flaw however with the security of these projects, and possibly the people that are chosen to participate in them. When violent offenders are allowed on these work projects, then I have an issue.
Again, I do believe in these projects (maybe some reform in selection is needed), and congrats to those organizations who support them.
Doesn't sound like an "ideal" candidate for a public work projects to me.
Posting a picture of the guy might help. Wait, let me guess...no one thought to take this guy's picture before transporting him off the prison's property.