Convicted robber still at large, escaped custody while working at Moncton Wesleyan Church

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By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff

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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."