Judge denies bail for teen facing 22 charges

A Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation man facing 22 charges that were accumulated over the past year involving armed robbery and manufacturing firearms was denied bail in a Brandon court on Monday.

Provincial court Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said the 18-year-old had a thoughtful bail plan, but it was insufficient in addressing the Crown’s concerns about protecting the safety of the public if he was released.

“The picture that emerges is of a young person whose behaviour spiralled completely out of control, beginning with ignoring conditions directed by the court, and then becoming much more serious,” she said.

“There’s every reason to believe, based on what I’ve heard today, that if I were to grant release again, that the pattern that has developed over the last 15 months would continue.”

The Sun cannot identify the man under the Youth Criminal Justice Act as most of his alleged offending occurred in the community when he was 17 years old.

The more serious allegations start on May 21, when he was charged with breaking into an apartment, robbing the homeowner with a weapon and causing mischief to the property, Crown attorney Sarah Kok said.

The Virden RCMP were called to an apartment complex in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation shortly after 7 a.m. and spoke with the complainant, who stated multiple individuals had come to her residence twice overnight, Kok said.

The woman told police she first noticed a shadow of someone outside who was trying to get through her sliding glass door window and a ground level window into a bedroom. She confronted the suspect, who then left the area with two other suspects who had jumped over the backyard fence.

When the woman looked around her property, she noticed screens had been ripped from two windows and her exterior surveillance cameras had been stolen. She also located a cellphone in her front yard.

More than two hours later, two of the suspects returned to her property and entered her apartment through an unlocked glass door, Kok said. She said the suspects told her “not to move” or she would be shot.

One of the suspects was armed with a black rifle, while the other — the accused — was holding a tomahawk-style axe, the Crown said.

The woman said the suspects began rummaging through her home and stole her purse, cellphone, laptop, Bluetooth speaker and an assortment of jewelry before they fled the scene. She also alleges they ripped down interior cameras and took back the cellphone that she had found outside.

The RCMP spoke to neighbours who corroborated some of the information the woman provided in her statement, Kok said.

A couple of weeks later on June 1, the RCMP received a report from a Manitoba First Nation safety officer who said he was out for a walk around 7:30 a.m. when the accused stood on his deck and brandished a homemade shotgun.

“He described it as being an improvised firearm that had two metal pipes stuck together with a trigger assembly and a shotgun shell loaded into the pipe. He advised that the gun didn’t appear to be pointed directly at him,” Kok said.

She said the accused and another individual then threatened the officer by saying, “You better leave, or I’ll bash your face in.”

He was arrested and charged with three weapons offences.

At the time, the Virden RCMP had received similar reports of handmade shotguns being in the community and got a warrant to search the accused’s home on June 13 — a day after his 18th birthday.

Police found a loaded homemade shotgun, various sizes of metal piping, tape, tools, including a hacksaw, and other firearms parts. Many of the items were located in the accused’s bedroom.

Police spoke with the man’s mother and sister, who alleged they had heard the accused using power tools, Kok said. His sister told officers she knew “her brother has stuff to make guns.”

The accused’s girlfriend also provided a statement, saying she had seen ammunition in his home and that he had been working with other community members, exchanging drugs for weapons and ammunition, Kok said.

“She believes that he is both buying and selling methamphetamine in order to get money to buy more weapons,” Kok said.

He was charged with five more weapons offences on that day and was arrested by the RCMP on July 30. Kok said he tried evading police when he ran through several fields and was charged with resisting arrest.

As well, the accused was placed on a 15-month period of supervised probation in 2025, but failed to report to a probation officer on three different occasions and failed to attend court twice this year, Kok said.

He’s also accused of breaching an order not to communicate with his girlfriend and failing to complete 40 hours of community service work, she said.

Kok opposed the accused’s proposed released, detailing concerns he wouldn’t show up for future court dates, would continue reoffending, would pose a safety risk to the community, and the public would lose trust in the justice system if he was let out on bail.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The man’s mother, who wiped tears from her face throughout the hearing, said her son was a good athlete and school student, but recent substance use has had a negative impact on his life, defence lawyer Bob Harrison said.

Systemic and background factors, including intergenerational trauma from residential schools have also affected his upbringing.

Harrison presented a bail plan that included conditions the accused would live with his father, who would provide a minimum of a $1,000 surety. The accused would also abide by a strict curfew, not contact any of the complainants, not possess any weapons, wear an ankle monitor and pay $1,500 if he breached the release order.

Hewitt-Michta said the accused has been released multiple times after he was arrested by police and his behaviour has “escalated to an extremely dangerous level.”

“The home invasion-style robbery and building weapons and threats into an occupied residence in the dead of night is obviously extremely grave,” she said.

“Manufacturing, possessing homemade firearms — very dangerous and serious — and the number of offences accumulated over the 15-month period also really compounds the gravity of this situation.”

The accused will next appear in court on Nov. 18.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com