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Two Chilliwack prolific offenders plead guilty to Home Depot theft

Ryan Malow and Kristopher Benson have extensive criminal records
20067453_web1_KrisBenson-RCMPlogo
Kristopher Benson is a prolific offender in Chilliwack who pleaded guilty on three different files in court on Jan. 8, 2019. (Facebook)

Two prolific offenders showed up in a Chilliwack courtroom Wednesday to face trial for theft from Home Depot, but one had no lawyer and the other was arrested on the spot due to an outstanding warrant.

Ryan Todd Malow and Kristopher Benson were charged along with Tracey Clements with theft under $5,000 for an incident at the Home Depot on Dec. 18, 2018.

The trial set for this week was scheduled back in July 2019, yet Malow showed up to court without his lawyer, Paul McMurray.

As for Benson, he did not immediately show up leaving his lawyer to wait for him. When he did walk into the courtroom he was put in handcuffs by a sheriff because of an outstanding warrant on another theft under $5,000 charge from July 2019.

After discussions with lawyers, Benson pleaded guilty to the Home Depot theft, in addition to two other charges, theft of shelving from Canadian Tire and driving while prohibited. Benson was released from custody pending sentencing, and is forbidden to attend either store that he stole from.

Malow met with duty counsel in the courthouse and then pleaded guilty to the Home Depot theft.

Both men will be sentenced at a later date, and Crown dropped the charge against Clements.

Benson is a prolific offender in Chilliwack with a criminal history going back nearly two decades. He was in the news in 2017 after his large pit bull dog violently attacked a woman and her dog in a parking lot in Garrison Crossing. He fled the scene, hid the dog even altered its colour to avoid its destruction, which was eventually ordered by a judge in 2018.

• READ MORE: Violent pit bull attack leaves Chilliwack woman with tendon damage

Malow also has an extensive criminal history from Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Surrey, Port Coquitlam, Vancouver and North Vancouver. His most recent conviction was for theft under $5,000 from Sept. 13, 2017 in Chilliwack.

He was also charged with the attempted murder of another prolific offender, Owen Charpentier, before Christmas 2018 at the downtown Travelodge Hotel. That charge was reduced to assault and assault with a weapon, and is still before the courts.

• READ MORE: Chilliwack prolific offender charged with stabbing another prolific offender


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