Man who wore police vest in rural home invasion robbery found guilty

An Edmonton man who broke into a rural home inDe Winton and stole cash and a gun while wearing a vest that read "police" has been found guilty in the 2019 home invasion.

Armin Babic, 41, was on trial onseven charges, including robbery with a firearm, impersonating a peace officer and forcible confinement.

But midway through the trial, the charge of impersonating a peace officer was withdrawn after the judge noted the Crown hadn't called evidence to prove Babic was not a police officer.

Court of King's Bench Justice Chris Rickardsrevoked Babic'sbail and will hear sentencing submissions at a later date.

• Trial starts for man accused of impersonating police officer in rural home invasion robbery

The starting pointfor a conviction of home invasion robbery is eight years, althoughprosecutors Joe Mercier and Elaine Ng indicated they will seek a sentence higher than that.

This is the fourth time a trial has been scheduled for Babic, who is now representing himself after going through at least three defence lawyers.

On one occasion, Babic had a medical emergency on what was to be the first day of trial; on another, he fired his lawyer.

• Home invasion victim testifies he feared being shot by intruder posing as police officer

On Nov. 19, 2019, Heather Haddad who is now 74 years old was visiting her brother Gavin McLachlan, now 68, at his home on an acreage in De Winton, just south of Calgary.

McLachlan saw a pickup truck drive onto his property and testified he assumed the man who approached his home was an officer because he was wearing a vest that read "police."

Babic pulled out a handgun and then tied McLachlan and Haddad's hands behind their backs.

He then demanded access to McLachlan's safe.

With the gun pressed against the back of Haddad's head, McLachlantestified he unlocked the safe and handed over $20,000 in cash plus jewelry and a handgun.

DNA evidence

After Babic left the home, McLachlan called 911.

Less than an hour later, RCMP pulled over a Chevrolet Silverado that matched the description of the intruder's vehicle.

Babic, who was driving the truck, was arrested.

Police searched the vehicle and found all of the stolen property as well as clothing, which had both Babic's DNA on it and McLachlan's.

A spent shell casing recovered from McLachlan's home was determined to have been fired from the handgun found in Babic's truck and registered in his name.