A 39-year-old man who stole body armour from a stolen Prince George RCMP cruiser and a Starlink satellite internet kit from London Drugs pleaded guilty to five counts of theft under $5,000 on June 8 and was sentenced to 176 days in jail.
Provincial Court Judge Martin Nadon called Zackary William Edward Isaac “not a good candidate” for a home confinement sentence, also known as a conditional sentence order, because of a criminal record spanning two decades.
“He has been cycling in and out of the system,” Nadon said. “Where it appears he is detained in custody, then deals with the matter, receiving time served to be followed by probation. Shortly after release, the cycle begins again, and he’s back in court with new charges and breaches of court orders.”
The first of Isaac’s guilty pleas stemmed from a bizarre July 28, 2025 incident in which someone other than Isaac stole an idling Prince George RCMP cruiser and parked it downtown. A nearby security camera captured images of Isaac stealing body armour valued at $1,300 and requiring a permit to possess.
At 4:39 a.m. that day, a Connective Support Society worker reported that police vehicle 1107 had been left unlocked and that two men and a woman were rummaging through it. An officer had failed to activate the secure-idling feature. Withall told Nadon that another person also removed a drone from the police vehicle and damaged it.
Isaac stole the Starlink system, worth $500, on Feb. 9 and, a week later, stole $1,000 worth of merchandise from Walmart. He was already subject to a no-go condition at that store after stealing a $287 television. He also stole $446 worth of tools from Home Depot.
Crown prosecutor Rodney Withall asked Nadon to sentence Isaac to one year in jail followed by two years’ probation. Defence lawyer Connor Carleton suggested a time-served sentence followed by probation. He explained that his client was “employed as a shopper” — obtaining specific items on request in exchange for payment in cocaine.
“Essentially, it’s an attempt to fill an order to get the next fix,” Carleton said.
Withall called Isaac a “chronic thief” who targets large businesses for high-priced items.
“Of course, the cost of that goes to the everyday person that goes into Home Depot and has to purchase their tools, the everyday member of the public that goes into London Drugs and has to work hard to pay for their Starlink, the everyday person who is struggling to buy groceries, has to go into Walmart and pay for their items,” Withall said. “But not Mr. Isaac — Mr. Isaac goes into the store and leaves the store without paying for them, and the cost of that gets passed on to everybody else, and particularly the businesses in our community.”
Nadon acknowledged that Isaac is Indigenous and grew up in the foster care system with numerous mental and physical challenges. He is approaching 40 and will need a hip replacement. He worked for a concert production company but suffered a brain injury in a motorcycle crash in 2009 or 2010 and was stabbed in a 2019 attempted murder.
Nadon sentenced Isaac to a gross term of 270 days but credited his 62 days in custody as 94 days under the time-and-a-half rule. Nadon also ordered him to serve two years’ probation and stay away from London Drugs, Walmart, Home Depot and Winners locations in Prince George.
Just over a year ago, on June 5, 2025, Nadon sentenced Isaac to one day, time served, for spitting at a Prince George Regional Correctional Centre guard in July 2024. The judge heard that Isaac had spent 15 days in solitary confinement after the assault, was homeless and was taking medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Last Nov. 27, Fort St. John-born Isaac pleaded guilty to stealing about $300 worth of baby formula from a Save-On-Foods store. Nadon accepted a joint Crown-defence proposal for a suspended sentence with a 12-month probation order that included a condition prohibiting him from entering Save-On-Foods stores in BC. The court heard that Isaac was caring for a baby and did not have food or money, so he stole the items.
By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Jun 18, 2026 at 08:19
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