Violent motel robbery nets four-and-a-half-year sentence

A man was sentenced to four and a half years behind bars for his part in a violent three-on-one robbery at a Brandon motel that left the victim with lacerations and fractures.

Ethan Cook, 22, pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery in Brandon provincial court on Friday.

The Crown recommended a sentence of four and a half years, while defence argued that a four-year sentence would be more appropriate.

Crown attorney Nikki Boggs read from an agreed statement of facts as she detailed the offence.

On March 6, 2025, the Brandon Police Service received a 911 call about an incident at the Midway Motel on First Street. When police arrived at the hotel, they found the victim, who had serious injuries, including lacerations to his elbow, forearm and wrist, along with a fractured elbow and shin.

A witness who was in the hotel room during the robbery later gave a statement to police. He said there was a knock at the door, and when the victim answered it, “three people rushed in with a knife and a machete.”

The witness told police he hid under a blanket until the group left with a backpack and cellphone.

Surveillance footage from the motel showed three suspects entering the motel room with a machete and a knife. Soon after, it showed the group leaving with a backpack.

“It is acknowledged Mr. Cook was the one with the machete,” Boggs said.

BPS set up a perimeter around the motel, and a police dog tracked the suspects to the Petro-Canada gas station on Highland Avenue, where an employee said three people had recently left in a taxi.

Video surveillance from the gas station showed the same three people as the footage from the motel.

Police learned the taxi had dropped off the group at an address on Second Street. Officers found the vehicle and arrested Cook and Tiah McKay-Catcheway, who were still inside the vehicle.

Police seized $1,870 in cash from Cook and another $1,480 in cash from McKay-Catcheway. Police arrested the third co-accused, Sasha McAskie, a short time later as she was inside a residence on Second Street.

Officers seized $680 in cash from her and obtained a search warrant for the residence. While executing the search warrant, police seized the backpack, machete and knife.

Blood on the machete, as well as on Cook’s finger and shoes, matched the DNA of the victim.

Boggs pointed out that Cook was roughly three weeks into serving a conditional sentence — house arrest — at the time, which was terminated as a result of this offence.

Boggs said a four-and-a-half-year sentence reflects the gravity of the offence and “the significant violence employed by these three people.”

“This was a planned attack. It might have not been the most sophisticated planned attack, but there was some degree of planning,” she said.

“These are not just mere threats that the victim was subjected to. This was an assault that resulted in injuries to this person.”

She listed several aggravating factors, including the nature of the weapon, the group element and pre-planning.

Boggs said Cook’s guilty plea was a mitigating factor, acknowledging that the victim didn’t give a statement to police and he couldn’t be located for a preliminary hearing. She said the witness couldn’t be located either.

The two co-accused each received a sentence of three and a half years, and an extra year for Cook would be appropriate, given that he had the machete when he entered the room and the victim’s blood was on it later, she said.

“We’re acknowledging that given the weapon, the DNA evidence, he was definitely a participant in the injury,” Boggs said, adding that while one of the women also had a knife, no DNA testing was done to rule out or confirm that the knife was used.

She said the offence has similar qualities to a home invasion, which after trial could result in an eight- to 10-year sentence.

Defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens said a one-year jump from the co-accused’s sentences isn’t justified, and a six-month jump would be more appropriate.

“Mr. Cook is taking responsibility for being there as a party to the entire interaction. All three parties, I would submit, are equally implicated,” Janssens said. “There’s no detailed account of what happened in the room, no statement from (the victim).”

Janssens outlined Cook’s personal circumstances and Gladue factors. Cook hails from Sapotaweyak Cree Nation, and his family has a history with residential school.

She said all of Cook’s male role models have been criminally involved, and he was exposed to violence and substance abuse at a young age.

“Addiction for Mr. Cook is the primary issue. I would submit his criminal involvement to date has been to support his addiction,” Janssens said, adding that he started using illicit substances at 14 years old.

“He’s very strongly hoping to remain sober now that he’s been in custody (for) a lengthy period of time,” she said. “(He) basically took every available rehabilitative asset he could while he’s been in Brandon Correctional Centre.”

Janssens said Cook’s addiction, Gladue factors, young age and mental health issues reduce his moral culpability.

Judge Patrick Sullivan described the “three-on-one assault involving bladed weapons” as highly violent.

“Mr. Cook, in my view, is distinguished in some ways from his co-accused that were present,” he said, specifically noting that he entered the room with a machete, his criminal record and that he was serving a conditional sentence.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com