Boy, 12, pleads guilty in car theft, bus crash

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A 12-year-old boy who stole a car and ran a city bus off the road and into a building caused an estimated $1 million to $2 million worth of damage during his joy ride, Brandon provincial court heard on Tuesday.

“The stealing of this car and the accident that ensued at the hands of (the accused) … is one of the most excessive incidents that I have seen,” Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter said.

The boy pleaded guilty to a number charges, including theft of a motor vehicle and multiple breaches of his recognizance.

Due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the boy cannot be identified.

On Oct. 6, the boy and a girl were on a supervised outing with a group home worker when she stopped at another group home to pass along a set of keys, Tschetter said.

The kids were left in the car while the worker ran inside, Tschetter said, adding the car — a blue Lincoln MKS — had a push start and the employee took the key fob with her.

As she was walking back to the car she saw the brake lights flash and realized the boy had hopped into the driver’s seat.

The worker — and the key fob — were in range to allow the ignition to be started. She ran toward the car pushing the lock and panic buttons on the fob in hopes of stopping the car from being able to move, but the boy pulled away.

A short time later, police were called to the corner of 10th Street and Princess Avenue, where the stolen Lincoln had run a red light and collided with a city bus, causing it to run off the road and into the Samson Engineering building.

A bystander told police he had grabbed the driver as he tried to run away, and officers arrested the boy on scene.

He told police he was travelling west down Princess Avenue and slowed down for the light at 10th Street, but went through anyway and collided with the bus, Tschetter said.

“It looked like the bus actually ran into the Lincoln and that the bus driver panicked or over-corrected his (steering) wheel, which allowed him to go straight into the building,” Tschetter said. “There were four people on the bus that had minor injuries which consisted of bruising and were taken to hospital, but were cleared with no major injuries.”

The bus driver told police the boy went through the intersection on a red light and hit the front passenger side of the bus, causing it to go into the building, Tschetter added.

The stolen car was written off, Tschetter said, costing a little more than $19,000. The city bus also needs to be replaced with an estimated price tag of $500,000 to $600,000 and the owner of Samson Engineering estimated that fixing the building could cost approximately $1 million.

“(The accused) is 12 years old as of September, he doesn’t have a criminal record but he has had some involvement in this type of offending before,” Tschetter said. “It is of great concern that this is the second time that he has stolen a car and driven in a manner that has caused an accident.”

The boy, along with another youth, was also involved in a car theft from a group home he was living at the time, where the staff’s car was stolen and crashed on the Trans-Canada Highway between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg on Sept. 17.

His co-accused was sentenced to 15 months supervised probation last week, but the boy could not be criminally charged due to being only 11-years-old at the time.

Tschetter noted the boy has spent just under a month in custody due to the offence and a number of breaches to the conditions of his recognizance, which should be taken into consideration, she said.

“The door to custody is not yet open,” Tschetter said. “(The accused) needs help and strong supervision … hopefully we don’t see him back before the courts with these types of charges again.”

Defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens ultimately agreed with the Crown’s recommendation, adding the boy has a lot of resources dedicated to him.

“He understands the seriousness of his offences … to the extent that he can as a 12-year-old,” Janssens said. “He’s had immediate consequences every time he’s stepped a toe out of line … this is a young man with a lot of eyes on him, people are paying attention and they’re concerned. They don’t want to see things go wrong for him again.”

The boy has also been diagnosed with ADHD, conduct disorder and is suspected to have some sort of alcohol-related neurological disorder, Janssens said, but has plans in place not only for counselling, but to be reintegrated back into school part-time to ensure his education stays on track.

“You’re extremely young to be in the court room,” said Judge John Combs. “What you did on Oct. 6 has caused a lot of people to suffer a lot of loss … this can’t happen again. In spite of your young age, when there are incidents like this that happen and cause a tremendous amount of damage, there have to be some consequences.”

Combs sentenced the boy to 18 months of supervised probation, including any recommended counselling and enrolment in the Intensive Support and Supervision Program. He was also ordered not to be in the driver’s seat of a vehicle.

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