Bear spray attack in mall nets probation for teen

A 14-year-old boy who bear-sprayed an apparent stranger inside a Brandon shopping mall — and then was caught with bear spray two months later — has been sentenced to two years of probation with 50 hours of community service.

The teen, whom the Sun cannot name under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and two counts of failure to comply with his probation order in Brandon provincial court on Tuesday.

Both the Crown and defence recommended a sentence of two years supervised probation with community service hours. The Crown recommended 65 hours while defence asked for 40.

Easton Lacey, an articling student with the Crown Attorney’s Office, detailed the facts behind the offences.

On the evening of Jan. 7, the Brandon Police Service received a report of an assault with a weapon at Brandon’s Shoppers Mall.

Security at the mall requested that Emergency Medical Services attend, as a male wearing a red jacket and black pants had bear-sprayed someone in the mall before taking off, Lacey said.

While police were en route to the mall, Lacey said an officer saw suspects running through the nearby cemetery.

Police arrested the teen, who identified himself to police.

“There was no bear spray located on the accused, but they had reason to believe based on the red jacket that he was the suspect that had been within the mall,” Lacey said.

She said video surveillance showed the teen walking through the mall while carrying a canister of bear spray and ultimately spraying someone with it.

“(This) demonstrates that (the teen) had no regard for his actions and is confident in the fact that he can carry a weapon in a public space,” Lacey said. She said the victim seemed to be a stranger.

The teen was on a probation order at the time with a condition not to have any weapons, Lacey said.

Police later released him on an undertaking.

On March 5, police were sent to a home on the 1300 block of Eighth Street after receiving a report that the teen assaulted two people with bear spray.

Police responded and found a male walking north on Eighth Street.

“(Police) could see an object in his right hand, and when they got closer, they saw a dark, long, cylinder object in his right hand,” Lacey said.

When officers stopped the teen, he tried to hide the canister in his waistband.

Lacey said the two youths who reported being assaulted weren’t co-operative, but police did find the teen with a weapon, which was the basis of the guilty plea for the weapon possession charge.

“This is an escalation in behaviour … and we want to make it clear that if he was an adult, he would be facing time in custody for these matters, and that was considered today.”

While 65 hours of community service is significant, she said it is the punitive element of the sentence and will hopefully connect him with people in the community who can be positive influences.

Defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens said the fact that the teen pleaded guilty to the charges so quickly after the offences demonstrated his remorse.

Alcohol was a factor in both incidents, she said. However, the teen has stayed away from alcohol since his last offence and is now attending school regularly.

“He’s making much better use of his time than he was in January and March,” she said.

The youth has been meeting with his probation officer and has indicated that he is interested in enrolling in addiction programming “to learn more about the impact of substances on a young person and how he can stay away from alcohol going forward,” she said.

Janssens said the teen is still on his previous probation order and has 35 hours of community service to complete. She asked that the judge take into account the three days he spent in custody when he was arrested and instead impose 40 hours of community service hours, leaving him with a total of 75 hours.

“I would submit it still reflects the severity of the charges,” she said.

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said by committing these offences, the teen has “swung wide open the door to jail.”

“You being in the mall spraying bear spray, that doesn’t just affect the person … you’re attacking — it affects all the other people that are around the area,” she said.

She pointed out that the second offence happened while the teen was on bail, when he should have been on his best behaviour.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com