B.C. man sentenced for assaulting, intimidating homeless couple with skid-steer loader
CTV
An Okanagan man who used a skid-steer loader to destroy the possessions of a homeless couple, knocking one of them unconscious as he ran over their belongings, will not face jail time for the assault.
An Okanagan man who used a skid-steer loader to destroy the possessions of a homeless couple, knocking one of them unconscious as he ran over their belongings, will not face jail time for the assault.
William John Mcrae, of Vernon, B.C., was found guilty in May of assault with a weapon and dangerous driving. On Monday, B.C. provincial court Justice Jeremy Guild sentenced Mcrae to eight months of house arrest and curfew, followed by 12 months of probation.
Mcrae, who the judge described as having "done much more than most to help vulnerable people," was also ordered to submit a DNA sample to the court, and provide a letter of apology to the woman he hit with the Bobcat.
The charges stem from an incident in August 2022, when the couple, Tia Myiot and Antonio Savinainen, were riding their bikes from downtown Vernon to nearby Kin Beach.
The couple stopped their bikes along a public path to rest in the shade of a tree near Mcrae's home, as Myiot was prone to suffering heat stroke and the temperature that day would reach over 32 C.
"They were going for one last visit to the beach before leaving Vernon to get away from the drug subculture, and to deal with their substance use disorder, commonly referred to as an addiction," the judge wrote. "They had all of their possessions in the world on their bicycles and in a couple of packs."
When Mcrae and his wife spotted the couple, believing them to be trespassing on their property, they called bylaw officers, who in turn advised them to call the police.
