Man gets 45 days in jail for smashing windshield of city truck

A 34-year-old man was sentenced to 45 days in jail for smashing the windshield of a City of Brandon truck with a brick — a 15-day increase after he was convicted of breaking an RCMP detachment window with an iPad in July.

Anthony McKay, from Crane River First Nation, pleaded guilty to a charge of mischief under $5,000 in Brandon provincial court on Tuesday before he apologized to the judge for his wrongdoing.

“I’m sorry for what I did,” McKay said while standing in the prisoner’s box before the judge.

“I let my anger get the best of me,” he said.

Brandon police officers arrested McKay on Sunday in the 200 block of Fifth Street after a bystander reported seeing a man dressed in black, smashing the windshield of a city-owned vehicle with a large brick on Lorne Avenue.

Police found McKay hiding between buildings and took him into custody without incident, Crown attorney Yaso Mathu said.

Police took photos of the truck and a brick that had McKay’s blood on it from an open cut on his hand.

Mathu showed a picture of the smashed windshield in court. It had a gaping hole in the centre of the window with spiderweb-like cracks splintering from it.

“It’s significant. It’s not just a chip,” she said.

McKay’s criminal record dates back to 2014 and includes convictions for vehicle theft, fleeing police and multiple charges of mischief. About two months ago, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail for using an iPad to smash a window at an RCMP detachment.

“He acknowledged to the police when they came out to see what all the noise was, that he was high on drugs at the time,” Mathu said.

“Given his escalating behaviour, the Crown would ask for a step-up from what he received last time and ask for 45 days custody.”

Aubrie Schettler, an articling student with Legal Aid Manitoba, said her client had consumed “a lot of alcohol” before he committed the offence.

“In his drunken state, he said his emotions got the best of him,” she said.

McKay told her the offence wasn’t a targeted attack against the City of Brandon and that he wouldn’t have smashed the vehicle’s windshield if he had been sober.

Schettler described McKay’s upbringing, including the ongoing intergenerational impact residential schools and colonialism have had on him. She suggested he face a 30-day sentence to account for his background and guilty plea, in addition to restitution for the damage caused.

While Judge Lindy Choy said she recognizes some people may drink alcohol to numb the pain when they’re struggling, it doesn’t appear to be helping McKay.

“You have to recognize that unless you get control of that, you may well be spending more time in jail if you keep on causing mischief,” Choy said.

“Given that it’s been so recently that you just were sentenced for the same type of offence, I think that the 45 days is the appropriate sentence for you.”

She didn’t order McKay to pay for the damage he caused and said he should use that money for counselling and rehabilitation.

McKay had three days with enhanced credit for time already served and will spend 42 more days at the Brandon Correctional Centre.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com