Yellowknife gun thief to be sentenced in July

A man who pleaded guilty to theft and the possession of firearms obtained by crime, after stealing guns from a Yellowknife home, will be sentenced in July.

Beau Desire-Tesar pleaded guilty on May 7, 2019, to stealing 12 firearms, jewelry and other items from a Rivett Crescent home. He broke into the home and stole the goods on Oct. 8, 2018.

On Thursday, the 33-year-old's sentencing was postponed in N.W.T. territorial court until July 16 to allow him to complete the aftercare portion of an addiction treatment program he has been taking in Nanaimo, B.C.

Another man charged in connection with the same incident has also been convicted. On Dec. 20,Francois Parisella was found guilty of possessing some of the stolen guns.

According to the written reasons for that verdict, the theft committed by Desire-Tesar was more the work of a desperate drug addict than a master criminal.

On the run for 3 weeks after daytime robbery

Desire-Tesar committed the Thanksgiving Day theft in broad daylight. After stealing the guns, jewelry, gun ases, a safe and other valuables from the home, he got stuck in the driveway.

The wheels on one side of his green Audi Quattro sedan slipped over a small retaining wall. He went to Parisella's home to ask for a tow. Parisella used his wife's distinctive lime green pickup truck.

According to the decision in the Parisella case, the neighbours saw much of this. One saw Desire-Tesar leaving the house. A few hours later he was called by another neighbour who reported that the car was stuck in the driveway. The first neighbour went out of his house to check it out and noticed the car was packed with household items.

Soon after being extricated from the driveway by Parisella, the Audi broke down. It was towed after being left on a main street. Inside was a rifle case, broken arrows, what appeared to be a bow, and some pill bottles with prescription labels in the names of the family whose home Desire-Tesar had broken into.

The next day, after hearing in the news that police were looking for a lime green pickup truck, Parisella and his wife went to the RCMP and reported that they had used her truck to pull Desire-Tesar out of the driveway.

That day,Parisella also rented a storage locker. Police became aware of that move the same day and had an unmarked car keep an eye on it.

They later got a search warrant and found the guns and some of the other stolen goods in the locker.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Desire-Tesar. He was on the run for three weeks before being taken into custody in Westlock, Alta.

While out on bail, he was charged with breaking into an apartment in Yellowknife, but that charge was later stayed.

Desire-Tesar is still facing a charge of failing to show up for court and breaching his release conditions.