Lookout for break-in ring gets one-year conditional sentence
Posted May 14, 2014 08:16:25 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – A 29-year-old Halifax man who assisted a break-in ring known as the Pillowcase Bandits has been handed a one-year conditional sentence, to be followed by a year’s probation.
Matthew Wayne Atkinson acted as a driver and lookout for three break-ins in Lunenburg County on March 27, 2013.
Atkinson pleaded guilty in February to possessing stolen property from the three break-ins and was sentenced last week in Halifax provincial court.
He’ll be on house arrest for the first four months of his conditional sentence before having to observe a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two months.
Police arrested three men last summer who were charged with breaking into more than 30 homes and businesses in Halifax, Lunenburg, Colchester and Hants counties from November 2012 to April 2013.
Police allege the bandits used online tools such as Google Maps, Google Street View and real estate listings to identify homes that were secluded and didn’t have alarm systems.
