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Man sentenced for 2 Abbotsford armed robberies that were 6 minutes apart

Peyton Graham robbed gas station and pizza restaurant on Dec. 29, 2020
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Peyton Graham used this pellet gun to rob a gas station and a restaurant on Dec. 29, 2020 in Abbotsford. (Abbotsford Police Department photo)

A man who robbed two Abbotsford gas stations within six minutes of each other in 2020 has been sentenced to an additional 20 months in jail.

Peyton Graham, 20, was given a total sentence of 27 months on April 22 in Abbotsford provincial court but was given seven months’ credit for time served.

He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and one count of using an imitation firearm.

Both robberies occurred Dec. 29, 2020. The first one was at 10:30 p.m. at a gas station in the 3200 block of Immel Street.

Graham wore a balaclava, waved a gun – which was later discovered to be a pellet gun – and robbed staff of lottery tickets and $350 cash.

As he was leaving, he told the three employees that he would shoot them if they called police, court documents indicate.

At 10:36 p.m., Graham went into a nearby pizza restaurant, where two employees were closing for the night. Graham pointed a gun at them and demanded money.

RELATED: Man with fake gun charged after two robberies in six minutes in Abbotsford

Several officers arrived and saw the robbery through the window of the restaurant.

Graham left the business, and police, who had their firearms drawn, demanded he drop his gun.

He threw the weapon into a bush and walked away from police, who then shot him with a beanbag gun.

“Quite frankly, he was extremely lucky things ended as they did,” Judge Gregory Brown stated in his written sentencing decision.

According to the documents, police found cash, bear spray, a folding knife and a baton on Graham.

Brown stated that Graham has a criminal record dating back to when he was 15.

At the time of the two robberies, Graham was on probation for two prior incidents for which he was sentenced in July 2020.

One of the incidents took place in June 2019, when Graham used a baton to assault another man and take his belongings.

The other occurred in March 2020, when Graham tried to start a fight with a customer at a gas station in the 28000 block of Fraser Highway. The victim sprayed Graham with gasoline, and Graham left the scene but quickly returned with a knife.

Graham threw the knife at the victim, who was not harmed.

RELATED: Man who tries to start gas-station fight gets sprayed with gasoline

He was sentenced to 300 days for the two offences and, after credit for time served, was released from prison on Nov. 8, 2020.

At his sentencing for the two robberies, Graham was also sentenced for an incident that occurred on Oct. 21, 2021, when he pulled a knife and used pepper-spray on a Telus worker in his parents’ neighbourhood.

The worker thought Graham had been trying to steal items from his vehicle.

Brown said Graham has struggled with drug addiction and almost died from an overdose 12 days before the robberies, but has gone through treatment twice.

He said Graham has “prospects for rehabilitation,” but Brown said the aggravating factors in the case warranted a jail term in line with the 27 to 29 months recommended by the Crown.

“Mr. Graham pointed an imitation firearm during the robberies and made threats. The employees did not know if the gun was real or not,” Brown listed as one of the aggravating factors.

Graham’s jail term will be followed by 18 months of probation.



vhopes@abbynews.com

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Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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