Steinbach man to serve jail time, at home

A man has been given nearly six months behind bars, to be served in the comfort of his Henry Street home.

Andreas Reimer, originally from Russia but grew up in Germany, is now a permanent resident in Canada and was arrested twice in less than a year.

The man who was desribed as a longtime meth addict was originally arrested by Sprague RCMP on Dec. 11, 2020, as he was walking near Piney with a loaded 7mm hunting rifle along with a scope.

Reimer identified himself as Alex and refused to say what he was doing walking along Highway 12 with a rifle outside of hunting season.

After being brought to the Sprague RCMP station and being questioned, he said the rifle was bought off “a guy.” Reimer was then brought to the Bethesda Hospital for a mental health evaluation after uttering suicidal threats to his lawyer.

The next day, an ATV was found abandoned near Piney. The owner of the vehicle, Travis Friesen from Blumenort spoke to RCMP and went to his cabin to find it ransacked.

RCMP determined that the cabin was ransacked by Reimer, which was fully stripped, with electrical outlets, sinks and cabin items gone or stacked just outside the cabin as if someone was going to come back for the items at a later date.

RCMP said that the people responsible for the break-in were at it for several hours stripping the house, as well as having slept in beds and making food with the cabin’s kitchenware.

Friesen was last at his cabin on Dec. 6, which would leave five days for Reimer to break in before being arrested. Reimer was reportedly still using meth, cannabis and cocaine regularly when the break-in happened.

On April 9, 2021, Steinbach RCMP responded to a two-vehicle crash on a municipal road near La Broquerie with Reimer driving one of the vehicles.

RCMP said that Reimer was driving up a hill on the gravel road where he was unable to see oncoming traffic. His car rammed into another vehicle, with the driver of the other car airlifted by STARS to Winnipeg after being extracted by the fire department.

RCMP determined that Reimer was driving on the left side of the road which caused the accident.

The victim of the accident was forced to have emergency surgery and spent months in hospital between Winnipeg and Steinbach. Reimer was reportedly sober when the crash happened, which is how he remains today. Neither driver was wearing a seatbelt.

Crown attorney Jennifer Neufeld along with defence attorney Michael Dyck asked for one day less than six months in jail along with a period of probation. They also asked for a combined $1,000 fine.

Judge Lee Ann Martin sentenced Reimer to six months, minus one day to be served at home. He will have to stay at home 24 hours a day, except for work, and medical-related appointments. He also received 18 months probation with a curfew between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

She also gave him a $1,000 fine, spread between $750 for careless driving and $250 for driving while disqualified. Reimer is allowed at Fitness Zone and Local Matters during his sentence.

“Drugs, hanging around with the wrong people often times gets you into very very problematic situations,” said Martin. “You’ve affected other peoples’ lives significantly.”

Reimer asked for his sentence to start two days after he was sentenced so he would be able to go to the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow Party at Canada Life Centre with his children. Neufeld said it would be unacceptable for someone to take a day away from jail time to go watch monster trucks.