REGINA – An 18-year-old Regina man remains at large after he was accidentally released from custody.
Brandon Krewenchuk appeared at Saskatchewan provincial court on September 22. He was supposed to be remanded into custody, but instead released.
Officials believe there was some sort of miscommunication but admit they don’t yet know what went wrong.
“We’re not sure yet what occurred and again we’ll launch an investigation into that to determine the circumstances surrounding that. What I can say is we are looking at some technological solutions that may assist in this moving forward,” said Drew Wilby with the ministry of justice. “This is not acceptable. Our first primary concern is public safety.”
One of the biggest concerns is that authorities didn’t realize the mistake until October 8, more than two weeks after the incident.
“The review and the investigation will determine the circumstances surrounding that. I would say it’s too preliminary for me to comment on that at this time,” said Wilby.
Krewenchuk is facing charges including break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence, and theft.
He had been in custody since February 21 and is a repeat offender.
When asked about one of Krewenchuk’s tattoos, which indicate some sort of gang affiliation: “I don’t want to speak to specifics of the individual and preclude the fact that he’s appearing on remand charges. He’s not a sentenced individual, but the picture does speak for itself.”
The accidental release was discovered through a discussion between the Regina Police Service and the justice ministry but officials couldn’t explain why that discussion didn’t happen sooner.
The ministry stresses it doesn’t believe the offender is a risk to the public.
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