![['Summerside Provincial Courthouse.']](https://saltwire.imgix.net/summerside-courthouse-3149931.jpg?cs=srgb&fit=crop&h=568&w=847&dpr=1&auto=enhance%2Ccompress%2Cformat)
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — SUMMERSIDE – The man who stole two televisions from a Central Street church during Sunday service and who was arrested after an elderly Summerside couple was robbed in their home in July is going to jail.
Gerald Adamson Shields, 23, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one count of breaching a court undertaking, two counts of defrauding someone of money equaling less than $5,000, possession of stolen property valued at less than $5,000, and one count of theft of items valued less than $5,000.
He was sentenced to 77 days in jail but received credit for 27 days already spent in custody and must also serve 18 months of probation.
The brazen daytime thefts began in Summerside on July 31, when someone entered a home on Driscoll Street and stole six rings while the female resident, in her seventies, was watching television in her living room and her husband, also in his seventies, was outside at about 8:50 a.m.
The woman discovered the culprit walking down her hallway, coming from a bedroom. The accused fled as the woman called out to her husband.
Two people, one of which was Shields, later that day, tried to sell the rings to a local jewellery store, but the store owner called police and Shields was arrested.
On Aug. 4, while the congregation at Central Street Christian Church was engaged in regular Sunday service, Shields entered the downtown church and removed two TVs.
The equipment wasn’t noticed missing until Aug. 6, when staff made the discovery and called police.
The church's video surveillance showed the theft and police were able to identify the suspect as Shields from the footage.
