Hit and runs net nine months in jail, $11K in restitution

A Sioux Valley Dakota Nation man who hit a parked car and left the scene in Brandon on two separate occasions has been sentenced to nine months in custody and will have to pay more than $11,000 in restitution.

Spear Ironman, 20, pleaded guilty to two counts each of failing to stop after an accident and failing to attend court, along with single counts of theft of a motor vehicle, failing to comply with probation and failing to comply with his release order.

The Crown asked for a total sentence of 11 months, followed by two years of unsupervised probation. The Crown also asked that he pay $11,383.08 in restitution and receive the equivalent of a 30-month driving prohibition.

Defence argued for a total sentence of nine months in custody and an 18-month driving prohibition.

Crown attorney Sarah Kok outlined the circumstances around the offences.

On June 22, 2025, while on release for charges that weren’t dealt with during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, police were sent to the 1300 block of Lorne Avenue after a report of a hit and run.

When police arrived, the caller said a black vehicle headed south on 13th Street drove through a stop sign without making any effort to stop, made a large right turn, lost control of the vehicle and hit a parked car, which Kok said luckily had no one inside.

The caller followed the vehicle for a short time and took photos of it, which she showed to police.

“The parked vehicle was entirely sideswiped, so there’s significant damage done to the driver’s side as well as the rear passenger doors,” Kok said.

Police found the suspect vehicle, which also had extensive damage, parked behind a residence on Victoria Avenue.

The owner of the vehicle told police she had left her car keys on the counter the night before and learned through family and friends that Ironman had used it.

“She indicates quite clearly that there was never any permission for Mr. Ironman to take the vehicle or to certainly drive it in the fashion he did,” Kok said.

Video surveillance from a doorbell camera also showed Ironman in the vehicle.

Police issued a warrant for his arrest, which was executed on Aug. 21, 2025, in Sioux Valley.

The Crown consented to Ironman’s release, and he subsequently failed to attend court in October 2025.

On Nov. 27, 2025, police received multiple calls about a collision in the 800 block of 12th Street. One caller said a grey sedan, with passengers who appeared to be “somewhat hanging outside of the windows,” hit a parked car.

Another caller said he saw the vehicle lose control and, after the collision, stop in the middle of the road. He said four or five occupants took off, abandoning the vehicle.

The suspect vehicle was left running and one of the tires looked like it was completely flat, Kok said.

The owner of the damaged vehicle, who saw the collision, gave a description of the suspects to police, and there was also doorbell footage of Ironman.

Later that day, an off-duty police officer saw Ironman at the Brandon Shoppers Mall and called the Brandon Police Service. Police arrested him in the area.

Ironman and one of the passengers who was in the vehicle with him gave statements to police.

Kok said Ironman was forthcoming with officers and at one point said, “Yep, you got me.”

The Crown said Ironman’s guilty pleas were “extremely mitigating,” as a trial with this many eyewitnesses would be lengthy.

She listed several aggravating factors, including that the June hit and run happened just a few days after Ironman was released on bail after being charged with robbery, assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats.

The Crown also said the two incidents were similar, and he caused more than $11,000 worth of damage to the first vehicle. The Crown did not receive a damage estimate for the second.

In the second incident, he was on bail with a condition not to be in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, Kok said.

“Certainly, one would’ve hoped that Mr. Ironman, if he was ever driving, was doing so very carefully.”

Defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens said Ironman’s Gladue factors, prospects for rehabilitation and circumstances around the time of the offence supported a lower sentence.

She said Ironman’s father died unexpectedly in September 2025, and grief played a role in his decisions during the last several months. His mother was recently in residential treatment, and because she’s been focusing on getting sober, she’s been absent in Ironman’s life, she said.

Ironman has close family members who attended residential school, which had an intergenerational impact on him, Janssens said. She added that he has struggled with substance abuse.

Ironman has been speaking with an addictions worker while in custody and applied for a treatment program, which he hopes to enter directly after serving his sentence, court heard.

Janssens said his girlfriend is pregnant, and he wants to be a sober parent, which is something he didn’t have during his childhood.

Janssens said long periods of custody can impact young offenders, as it “allows a young person’s exposure to criminally entrenched individuals and does little to support rehabilitation.”

Judge Robert Heinrichs said hitting other vehicles, especially with passengers, is a “recipe for disaster.”

“You shouldn’t be driving, and the way you get caught is driving poorly and hitting things,” he said.

He sentenced Ironman to a total of nine months in custody, followed by two years of unsupervised probation. He issued an 18-month and a 12-month driving prohibition – one for each charge of failing to stop after an accident – to be served concurrently.

Ironman has the equivalent of roughly five months in custody, meaning he will serve four months going forward.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com