Terrifying DQ robbery with hatchet

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A man who robbed teenagers at the Steinbach Dairy Queen using a hatchet and knives was sentenced to three years custody.

Judge Michelle Bright described the suppertime robbery in front of customers on Nov. 18, 2023 as “terrifying.”

The crew working that evening just after 6 p.m. was led by an 18-year-old woman and 21-year-old man. Then Terrance Machinskinic, 34, walked in demanding cash with a strong odour of liquor on his breath, a hatchet in his waistband, and a knife in his pocket.

“I have no doubt that this would have been really, really terrifying for them because they don’t know what’s going to happen. They don’t know what you’re going to do,” said Judge Bright before sentencing on Nov. 29 in Steinbach court.

Steinbach RCMP were able to nab Machinskinic right in the DQ parking lot thanks to the quick action of the team leaders. They found the cash he took and another knife in his backpack.

Crown attorney Jennifer Neufeld described what happened that evening.

Machinskinic walked up to the counter and handed the worker at the till a note which read “I am armed” on one side, and “I need $1,200 or you guys R (sic) dead” on the other.

The two staff members at the front went to the 18-year-old female team leader with the note, visibly shaking. They asked her what they should do.

In a police statement, the female team leader said she then looked at Machinskinic. He appeared agitated, with cracked bloody lips.

She went to the older male team leader who was in the back. He told her to give Machinskinic the money, which she quickly does. Police later seized $190.

The male team leader at this time was in the office calling police.

The female team leader tried to explain that was all the cash they had. Machinskinic then came around the counter and started pushing her towards the drive-thru window, putting his face up to hers.

Machinskinic began to whisper at her, telling her to call the cops and give him $1,200.

“He was saying ‘They will know who I am.’ He said ‘If I don’t get what I need, you guys are all dead,’” described the Crown.

Machinskinic then pushed his way past customers and left before quickly being arrested by police arriving on scene.

The robbery lasted about five minutes.

Machinskinic was described as transient. He had spent much of his childhood in the Child and Family Services system before being left to his own devices at 18.

At the time of the robbery, Machinskinic had been cut off from welfare according to his defence attorney, and was suffering from an alcohol addiction and mental health issues. Machinskinic told his lawyer he believed the police and a biker gang was after him.

He is now trying anti-psychotics while in custody at the medium security mental health unit at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

Machinskinic pleaded guilty, part of the reason Machinskinic’s jointly recommended sentence was not longer considering his lengthy criminal record dating back 20 years that includes a 2019 conviction for robbery, plus other convictions for uttering threats and break and enters.

Charges of uttering threats, possessing a concealed weapon, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and possessing property obtained by crime were dropped as part of the plea deal.

With time served, Machinskinic had 591 more days to go on this sentence. That will be followed by two years of unsupervised probation with conditions to not contact the team leaders who worked that night, and to not attend the Steinbach Dairy Queen. He also has a lifetime ban from possessing weapons.

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