A man who admitted to robbing a Burnaby supplement store with an imitation handgun in March 2014 has been sentenced to three years in jail.
Alexandru Radacina pleaded guilty to robbing the Popeye's Supplements store on Kingsway on March 3, 2014.
Dressed in black and wearing a black balaclava, the 36-year-old had entered the store and come into the back room, cornering store manager Thunder Ngo in the bathroom with what appeared to be a pistol, according to an agreed statement of facts in a sentencing report recently posted on the B.C. Supreme Court website.
Radacina attempted to direct Ngo out of the bathroom toward the till, but was confronted suddenly by Ngo's brother, Hoang Ngo, who had come into the store.
Hoang shouted that the gun was a fake and rushed at Radacina.
During an ensuing struggle, Hoang pulled the mask off Radacina’s head and immediately recognized him as someone who worked out in the same gym.
But Radacina then pulled a knife from a sheath near his waistband, jabbed at Hoang and fled when Hoang jumped back to avoid being cut.
Dropping his duffel bag and imitation pistol, Radacina took off in a car, later identified as belonging to the mother of Radacina’s girlfriend.
Police went to her address and found and arrested Radacina there.
The Crown and the defence both called for a one-day jail sentence for the robbery and a consecutive three-year sentence for the use of the imitation firearm during the crime.
In handing down her sentence, B.C. Supreme Court justice Janice Dillon noted this was Radacina’s third robbery conviction but also mentioned factors like his cooperation with police, his good behaviour while on bail and his struggles with addiction and mental health.
Besides the prison sentence, Radacina was also handed a lifetime weapons ban.
