A 20-year-old Prince George man was sentenced Monday to three years probation with a conditional discharge for making a "really, really, really dumb" decision to torch his girlfriend's father's car to hide the fact he ran it off the road.
Braydon Alexander Patapow, 20, was facing much harsher consequences before deciding to plead guilty to one count of arson for fraudulent purposes and earning a good character reference from the owners of a fence he had struck and damaged with the car.
Then 18 years old, Patapow encountered a patch of ice while heading along McClarty Crescent, just off North Nechako Road, during the evening of Nov. 1, 2015. The car's front was damaged severely but could still be driven and, with the help of an unnamed friend, drove it out of town, dumped gas inside it and lit it on fire.
Early the next morning, his girlfriend, who had been given the car by her father to use, reported the vehicle stolen when she noticed it was not outside her home. Patapow told police later the same day he did not know what happened.
The car, meanwhile, was found and traced back to its owner through its licence plate and vehicle identification number and Patapow was subsequently charged.
The matter had been scheduled for a four-day trial this week. But in the lead up, Patapow said he was willing to plead guilty, prompting Crown and defence counsels to work on a joint submission for sentencing over the last few weeks.
Also in his favour, Patapow fixed the fence he had damaged within two weeks of the collision. The fence's owners, in turn, gave him a glowing endorsement, noting he kept in touch with them by telephone and left the fence in a better condition than it had been before it was hit. He also left some extra lumber in case it needed any additional repairs as a result of what happened.
Although Patapow had been driving a friend to the liquor store, there was no evidence he had been drinking himself. And he would not have stood to benefit in the form of a pay out from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia because he did not own the car.
"It appears to be a young person doing something really, really, really dumb," Crown counsel Marie-Louis Ahrens told the court.
Terms of Patapow's probation include paying $11,016.64 for the damage done to the car. - $10,016.64 to ICBC and $200 to the car's owner for the deductible. He was also ordered to pay the amount in equal installments every six months during the term of his probation.If he pays it all off before the three years is up, Patapow can apply to have his probation ended early. A conditional discharge means
Patapow will not have a criminal record for the act.
