A woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for a carjacking that traumatized three generations of one family.
Jamie Zebrasky, 33, was still on parole for robbery and break and enter charges when she confronted an 86-year-old man, his 60-year-old daughter and her 27-year-old son in the parking lot of Polo Park mall on July 12, 2009.
Court heard she threatened the victims with an imitation handgun and demanded money before forcing them into the car and ordering them to drive her to a service station on Keewatin Street.
When the female victim said she was unable to drive due to a foot injury, Zebrasky said she would “pop her” if she didn’t co-operate, Crown attorney Lisa Cupples told court.
The younger male victim drove the car to the service station, where Zebrasky robbed the trio of $300 and exited the vehicle. She told the victims “if it wasn’t for the 86-year-old man she would have taken the vehicle too,” Cupples said.
Zebrasky wasn’t arrested for the carjacking until a month later, when she was arrested driving in a stolen car. While in custody on that charge, an informant identified Zebrasky’s daughter as a suspect in the carjacking.
When questioned about the incident, the daughter told police Zebrasky came home with a large amount of cash and a story about robbing a family at gunpoint.
Cupples said the 60-year-old victim was asked to provide a victim impact statement to the court, but she is “terrified ... and didn’t want anything to do with this proceeding.”
All three victims “have complete fear of her to this day.”
Zebrasky spent the stolen money on groceries, said defence lawyer Ted Mariash.
“This wasn’t done for drugs,” he said. “It was done for her family. She acknowledges that doesn’t make it right.” Zebrasky pleaded guilty to robbery with an imitation firearm, kidnapping and possession of goods obtained by crime. That last charge is in connection with her arrest in the stolen car.
Judge Marvin Garfinkel gave Zebrasky double credit of one year for time served and ordered her to serve an additional nine months on the stolen car charge.
I think that the circumstances of why this woman committed this act, should be examined. She bought groceries with the stolen money, not drugs or alcohol. This shows that she may have been living in poverty and was just doing what she needed to, to survive and help her family survive. Her motives are different than those who would rob an individual with intent to harm them or to obtain drugs to harbor an addiction. I feel that 4 years is too harsh considering the circumstances. She will be serving her time in Edmonton, in the federal prison for women and will be separated from family and friends, which is very hard. I believe that she should have been sentenced to only 2 years less a day with some probation, maybe 1-2 years.
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