Time served for man caught with ‘monkey’s fist’
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/02/2022 (1507 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A man caught with a “monkey’s fist” weapon was sentenced to more than a month time served in jail Monday morning.
Christopher Nepinak pleaded guilty to public mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose in the January incident.
On Jan. 10 at approximately 8 p.m., officers responded to a call about a person sleeping in the laundry room of an apartment building, Crown attorney Jonathan Mays said. The tenant had called the landlord but couldn’t get the door open because of the person inside.
When police arrived, they found Nepinak was inside, he said, and had blocked the door from the inside. The door had some damage to it and was knocked off its frame.
Nepinak originally gave officers the name “Larry Watts,” but police knew it was fake, Mays said.
He was also digging through bags in the laundry room at the time and police had to grab his arms to get him to stop, the Crown said.
When officers searched him, they found a “monkey’s fist,” which Mays said is a chain wrapped in electrical tape and has a string attached.
“That is a weapon that is only going to escalate an altercation if it is to occur,” Mays said, adding it is concerning he was carrying it around with him.
Mays recommended 36 days time served in jail for the crime, noting the time spent in jail has been during a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Defence lawyer Robert Harrison jointly recommended the sentence with the Crown.
Speaking to the court via video, Nepinak said he knows what he did is wrong.
“I will think differently next time. I know I shouldn’t have been in that apartment and there’s no excuse … I just shouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said the recommended sentence was “lenient” as he was caught out in the community carrying around a weapon for protection.
“We don’t want people out in the community with weapons because you risk putting yourself in a situation you can’t predict and can’t control,” she said.
“You pull out your weapon thinking you need to protect yourself, and the other person pulls out a gun or knife, and then things can quickly escalate out of control and someone ends up dead,” Hewitt-Michta said to Nepinak.
She endorsed the joint recommendation, sentencing Nepinak to 36 days time served in jail. She also put him on six months of unsupervised probation.
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay_