A man who came to the attention of police at the scene of a fire ended up with a jail sentence for a different reason.
Justin Aster was charged for breaching his probation condition to not be outside his residence if he has consumed alcohol, the result of an incident that occurred Aug. 16.
Crown Bill Funnell, who did not prosecute the case but was familiar with it, said police did not forward a charge about Aster’s behaviour while at the fire scene, but a charge was laid because of the probation breach they discovered when doing a check.
Aster had been asking questions and refused to leave when asked at the location, which was the old CN bunkhouse. The building was owned by the Best Western Inn, which used it for storage until a fire partially burned it earlier this year.
Officers noticed Aster in an intoxicated state, arrested him and later learned of the probation breaches, said Funnell. Aster was sentenced to 21 days in jail which was reduced to 15 days after time served was considered.
On Aug. 17, Terrace RCMP said officers were called when a man refused to leave an area, remaining in the way of working firefighters.
Police arrested the intoxicated 28-year-old man.
While he was in custody, they learned that he had breached two probation orders and an undertaking by being intoxicated, said police.
He also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and was held for court, they said.
A second charge of breach of probation and the breach of undertaking charge were stayed by the court.
