Accused arsonist gets bail

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This article was published 11/07/2023 (1170 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man accused of setting a car on fire on Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in 2021 has been released on bail to live in Winnipeg while he awaits trial dates.

Gary Wilson got a chance to be out in the community while his charges move through the court after a successful bid for bail in court on Monday.

In addition to the Sioux Valley arson charge, Wilson is also facing numerous charges from several jurisdictions including assault, uttering threats, and multiple counts of disobeying a court order.

Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup read the evidence for the charges in court.

The charges against Wilson have not been proven in court, and he remains innocent until proven guilty.

On Aug. 28, 2021, in Sioux Valley, a man allegedly burned a woman’s vehicle by dousing it in gasoline and setting it on fire.

The Crown indicated that prosecutors have multiple witnesses willing to testify to the event, including a man who saw the accused with a jerry can of gasoline, lighting the car on fire, then leaving the scene.

While the man was released after being charged, he was also at the same time on an anti-stalking order for a woman living in Brandon.

The woman called police on May 15, 2023 and reported that the man was at her home trying to get into the residence.

She said that the man was possibly intoxicated and was trying to push open a door and talking through a window.

When Brandon police found the man one block south of the home, he gave police a bizarre explanation for his earlier behaviour. He told police that he was trying to make amends with his daughter and pointed at a small child in the vicinity. However, the child was actually a boy and the family with the child had no connection to the accused at all.

The man was released again, this time on a condition to live at a Brandon address. However, a month later on June 21, probation services contacted police to ask for an address check on the man. Police went to the court-ordered address for the man and found out that he was not living there and was instead living in Peguis First Nation.

Later, police would discover that the man had been living in Peguis since his release and provided an address to the court where he never ended up living. The woman with whom the man was staying in Peguis told police she was concerned for her safety and didn’t want the man to return to live with her.

A warrant was issued for the man’s arrest, but authorities wouldn’t get a chance to execute the warrant before the man found himself racking up other charges.

Also on June 21, Fisher Branch RCMP were called to a disturbance at the Percy E. Moore hospital in Peguis. The man, who was a patient at the hospital, had become aggressive and threatened staff. He apparently asked a security officer if he had ever had his nose broken and moved into a fighting stance. The accused pushed against the security officer as he left the hospital.

A First Nation safety officer stopped the man from fleeing from the hospital and placed him in a vehicle until RCMP arrived to arrest the man. He was charged with assault and uttering threats.

The Crown was opposed to Wilson’s release, citing his track record of not abiding by court orders as the pending charges against him involved him allegedly breaking court-ordered conditions.

“He is setting someone’s vehicle on fire, it is alleged, in the presence of someone he is not supposed to be with,” Lonstrup said. “[He was] not using an address he was given and misbehaving in a completely different location and basically putting himself almost completely outside of the radar in a situation he wasn’t supposed to be.”

Wilson’s defence lawyer, Anthony Dawson, presented a bail plan to the court that would have his 39-year-old client living at the address in Peguis with a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

The defence lawyer also raised concerns with the legality of the court order that Wilson was charged with disobeying.

Judge John Combs was hesitant to release Wilson to a home where a woman had told police she didn’t want him living with her. Dawson said that he spoke with the woman and that she said that she was fine with having Wilson stay with her again.

After a quick conversation with Dawson, Wilson provided a different address — one in Winnipeg where he proposed he would live with his mother and sister.

Though the Crown raised concerns about the validity of the new address provided by Wilson, the judge was satisfied with the new address and granted Wilson bail.

“Every individual is entitled to reasonable bail if a reasonable plan can be formulated,” Combs said.

He reminded Wilson that if he didn’t comply with this release order, he would likely have a hard time getting bail again.

“I’m going to release you today, but you are going to be on a short leash,” the judge said.

The Sioux Valley arson charge will next appear in Court of King’s Bench on Sept. 11. The rest of Wilson’s charges will next appear in court on Aug. 14.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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