Man who used excavator in 'rampage' at water treatment plant hit with $1.4M fine, added jail time

A man who crashed an excavator into vehicles, equipment and buildings at a City of Winnipeg water treatment plant in 2023 has been sentenced to additional jail time and ordered to pay restitution for the more than $1 million for damage he caused.

Aaron Yarema, 40, previously pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, mischief over $5,000 and assault of an officer related to the September 2023 incident at the City of Winnipeg's Deacon Reservoir water treatment plant.

Yarema used crack cocaine and methamphetamine in the 24 hours prior to the incident, court heard.

Yarema, who was brought into a Winnipeg courtroom on Friday by a sheriff, will serve 144 more days once enhanced credit for the time he's already served is factored into his 990-day sentence.

Court heard Yarema was out of custody on other charges when he broke into the property at Deacon Road east of Highway 207 in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2023, and started driving an excavator, crashing it into several city vehicles.

When officers arrived, Yarema was still in the machine, operating it "in a reckless manner, trying to cause further damage to property," provincial court Judge Vincent Sinclair said Friday. Police used a loudspeaker to try to get him to stop, but he refused.

Police then tried to break the machine's windows but were unsuccessful. Once one of the doors was opened and officers threatened to use a stun gun on him, Yarema "finally stopped and became co-operative," but also spat on one of the officers' vests.

As he handed down Yarema's sentence, Sinclair said he had concerns the man seemed to minimize his actions in comments made in a pre-sentence report.

"He blamed someone else for leaving the keys in the vehicle, and [said] that it was inevitable that a person would go on such a rampage, or 'demolition derby' as he called it," the judge said.

"He also felt that spitting was justified because he felt targeted. I don't know how a person can feel targeted when they're in the midst of causing significant damage and the police are simply responding."

Sinclair also ordered Yarema to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution to the City of Winnipeg, split up through three separate orders earmarked for the city's fleet management department, building repairs and the insurance deductible it paid.

Prosecutor Martyn Langstaff previously told court five buildings, city equipment including backhoes and skid steers, and several employee vehicles were damaged in an incident with "no real logical reason" behind it.

"It doesn't make any sense," Langstaff said. "This is a situation where there likely will be a significant cost to the taxpayers that will never be paid back."

Yarema also pleaded to a separate charge of assaulting a peace officer after he spit at an officer while jailed for sexual interference and sexual assault in February 2023. He is scheduled to appear in court in May on that charge.