Man admits breaking into home while owners away

A 32-year-old man admitted he broke into a residence in Brandon last summer while the homeowners had temporarily vacated the property due to a neighbouring house fire.

Skylar Tuck of Brandon pleaded guilty to break and enter in Brandon provincial court on Wednesday.

Crown attorney Caroline Lacey outlined the facts in the case.

On Aug. 14, 2025, emergency responders had asked a mother and son to leave their home on Sixth Street while firefighters worked to extinguish a fire next door.

Later that day, the homeowners returned to the house and saw Tuck standing on the porch, closing their front door, Lacey said.

“He was smoking a cigarette at the time and indicated he was looking for an address that did not exist, and then left,” she said.

“The victim entered her home and could smell the distinct smell of cigarette smoke, despite none of the occupants of her home being smokers, and concluded that from her perspective, she thought the accused had entered their home through the unlocked front door.”

The woman looked through her home and didn’t notice anything was missing at the time, so she didn’t report the incident to police. She later noticed her vehicle’s spare set of keys was missing from a box at the front door and that her vehicle had been stolen from the driveway, Lacey said.

The mother and son reported the stolen vehicle to police on Aug. 15, and police spoke to the victims at their residence.

Co-accused Matthew Elk, Tuck’s brother, said Tuck drove to his house in the stolen vehicle, handed him the keys and asked whether he wanted to take it for a drive, Lacey said.

Elk then allegedly drove the vehicle and was pulled over by police within minutes of leaving his residence.

Police arrested Tuck on Aug. 16 as he was seen walking on Seventh Street. Tuck told police in a statement that he was at the house where the vehicle had been stolen from and had walked by there again, Lacey said.

“He also said that he talked to the victim and the other witness and … gave them his full name,” she said.

“He did say that he had gone to his brother Matthew Elk’s residence to share some methamphetamine with him but would not confirm he gave him the keys to the vehicle.”

The Crown suggested Tuck be sentenced to 18 months in jail — or 540 days — excluding an enhanced credit of 410 days already spent in custody. The Crown was also seeking a two-year unsupervised probation order with conditions not to contact the homeowners.

Lacey said Tuck “isn’t a stranger” to the criminal justice system and has previous convictions for breaking and entering and stealing a vehicle.

“Members of the public are entitled to feel secure in their residence and to trust that strangers will not enter their homes,” she said.

Defence lawyer Norm Sims suggested Tuck receive a 15-month jail sentence with supervised probation.

Sims said his client graduated from Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School and has since taken courses in carpentry. He has an eight-year-old daughter who lives with her mother in Winnipeg.

Tuck was sentenced to 16 and a half months in jail, minus time spent in custody, meaning that he will serve a remaining sentence of 85 days. He also received two years of unsupervised probation with conditions to keep the peace and not contact the homeowners.

“I’m always sad when I see you because I think you’re a smart guy,” said Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta.

“We’ve talked about this many times before. I feel like you’re capable of more and better. You deserve a different kind of life, but you have to be prepared to put the work in to make it happen.”

» tadamski@brandonsun.com