A man who was at the centre of a gun-related scare outside a Prince George nightclub was sentenced Thursday to a five-month conditional sentence followed by one year probation.
Alain Marcel Perreault, 29, was issued the term after pleading guilty to careless use of a firearm from the March 27, 2015 incident. From the same event, he was also prohibited from driving for one year and fined $1,000 for driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08.
Shortly before 1 a.m., Perreault's ex-girlfriend called 911 to report that he was drunk and "acting crazy." He had taken her purse and house keys and took off in his vehicle following an argument outside Alibi's at the corner of First Avenue and Dominion Street but later returned.
Perreault then told her she had "five seconds to get outside." The woman told police she ran outside and saw Perreault take his SKS, a semi-automatic carbine, out of its case, load it and then put it back in his vehicle before taking off once again.
An alert was sent out to RCMP and about 15 minutes after the 911 call was made, his vehicle was seen on Northwood Pulpmill Road. An officer pulled him over on Highway 97 but not until he had to reach speeds of up to 120 km/h to catch up to him.
Perreault and the woman been living together in her father's home until they broke up about five days before. When her father told him to leave, he packed his belongings into his vehicle and had been living out of it.
The vehicle was filled with personal belongings when it was pulled over. Police also found a near empty 750 ml bottle of flavoured whisky. Taken into custody, Perreault blew .140 and .150 on the breathalyzer.
RCMP also found two magazines each loaded with 20 rounds - the legal limit is 5-10 rounds depending on the type of magazine - but no rifle. Police launched a search and an officer eventually found the gun in its carrying case in a brushy area near the edge of the Canfor pulp mill property. The officer ejected an unfired bullet from the chamber after finding the trigger lock unlocked and recovered another loaded 20-round magazine but not inserted in the firearm. And close to the carrying case, the officer found a wooden box filled with unfired ammunition.
Perreault was held in custody for four days during which he received an "hour-long grilling" from the RCMP's gang task force. He was subsequently released on bail and has met its conditions - some of them strict - for the past 19 months without trouble.
Both Perreault and the woman told police he never threatened or assaulted her during the incident. Perreault also adamantly denied he ever took the firearm out of his vehicle and his lawyer, David Jenkins Jr., there were some inconsistencies between the evidence and the woman's statements to police.
He said the mention of a gun in the original 911 call was made "almost as an afterthought and I would say was almost an attempt to get him to leave." Jenkins Jr. further said her ultimate story that Perreault loaded the rifle as the two were sitting in the vehicle's front seat didn't make sense given the gun's length and the lack of room the vehicle.
"A three-to-four foot long firearm is not easy to handle in a confined space," he told the court.
Wearing a suit and tie and looking remorseful, Perreault apologized for his actions when given a chance to speak to the court.
In accepting a joint submission on sentencing from Crown and defence counsels, provincial court judge Dan Weatherly acknowledged that Perreault has no criminal record and had not violated his bail in the entire time he has been out of custody.
A conditional sentence means Perreault will serve his time at home with a curfew. He will also be required to take counseling for anger management, spousal abuse prevention and drug and alcohol dependency.
Perreault was also issued a concurrent term of one day after pleading guilty to mischief under $5,000 for smashing the woman's smartphone on the day they broke up and he left the house.
Calling his actions a "very serious matter," Weatherly gave Perreault a scolding.
"Your behaviour that was totally irresponsible, self-centred nonsense and you're very, very fortunate no one was injured," he told Perreault.
As a result of his arrest, Perreault lost his job at the Canfor pulp mill, where he had been working for two weeks. He will also likely lose his current job because of the driving prohibition, the court heard.
Perreault will serve the sentence in Quesnel where he lives.
