A man who crown counsel said was heavily involved in property crimes in the South Okanagan is spending the next month in jail.
Samuel-Luc Prescott-Perreault, 28, pleaded guilty to multiple charges including breaking and entering, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of stolen property under $5,000 and three breaches of recognizance.
Prescott-Perreault is spending 38 more days in jail after receiving a sentence of just over four months, most of which was reduced with credit for time served in pre-trial custody.
Prescott-Perreault was found by an off-duty police officer inside the locked tire compound at Canadian Tire on Nov. 22, 2015 with co-accused Karli Alisha Vinthers, 22, who pleaded guilty to the charges in December, 2015. Police attended and located a man standing on top of a pile of tires who was identified as Prescott-Perreault. He attempted to climb on to the roof of the Canadian Tire building but eventually surrendered to police.
Found on Prescott-Perreault was a three-foot collapsable baton and a holder on his belt and a folding black knife in his pocket. He told police he needed tires for his car and carries the baton for protection as there are numerous people after him. A cut lock was found near the gate to the compound and during a search police located Vinthers hiding in a stack of tires as well as two pair of wire cutters and two sets of bolt cutters outside the tire compound.
Prescott-Perreault was released the next day with a curfew, which he breached on Jan. 1 when he was not at home for a curfew check in Okanagan Falls. Prescott-Perreault once again breached his court order on Jan. 11 and again on Jan. 19 by not being present at his residence. Prescott-Perreault, who is a prohibited driver, was located nearby in a van when police were performing their curfew check on Jan. 19. He was arrested and released, and was back in custody Feb. 5 where he has remained since.
Crown counsel Kurt Froehlich said Prescott-Perreault’s criminal record is “relatively minor,” though he noted “Mr. Prescott-Perrault is heavily involved in the property crime scene in the South Okanagan.”
Froehlich said that Prescott-Perreault suffers from addiction issues, which “leads to very bad things for him.”
Prescott-Perreault was given a one-year driving prohibition, 18 months probation and was ordered to pay a $500 fine.
