A Prince George man was sentenced Friday to a further 2 1/2 years in prison for his role in a crime spree with the mother of his soon-to-be born child.
Kelsey Alexander Allard, 33, was issued the term in provincial court after he pleaded guilty to eight of the 25 charges he was facing for alleged offences in Prince George as well as one in Revelstoke.
In early December, Stephanie Rene Deschene, 25, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for the same series of events. She received a stiffer sentence in part because she was behind the wheel when the couple fled police and because of her past record of similar crimes.
Describing the spree as a "Bonnie and Clyde-type situation," Crown prosecution spent much of the hearing outlining a lengthy list of incidents over about two weeks beginning in late August.
Almost all involved break, enter and thefts and thefts of vehicles or their licence plates. They were committed in Salmon Arm, Revelstoke, Dawson Creek, and Cochrane and Grande Prairie, Alberta before the two ended up in Prince George, where Allard grew up and has family.
Over Sept. 7 and 8, a further series of incidents was reported in this city.
In one case, a homeowner on Vista View Road in College Heights had left to drop his children off at daycare but left the door of his garage open. When he returned about 10 minutes later, he saw the two loading a sport utility vehicle with items from the home.
Once they saw him, they drove off but the homeowner did notice Deschene wearing a jacket with "security" across the back and remembered most of the numbers from the Alberta licence plate on the truck.
A handful more thefts and break and enters were reported in the College Heights and Vanway areas before RCMP narrowed their search down to the Blue Spruce campground on Highway 16 West.
RCMP spotted the two standing next to an SUV matching the description from Valley View Road. When they noticed the police, they hopped into the vehicle, with Deschene getting into the driver's side, and took off, attempting to ram an RCMP vehicle and evading a roadblock in the process.
At the campsite, RCMP found a tent, power tools, several Identification cards and a pawn shop receipt with Allard's name on it from Grande Prairie.
At 5 p.m., RCMP were notified that the couple had convinced a man to call a taxi for them after their truck ran out of gas. The abandoned truck was found on Logan Crescent, with a 12-guage shotgun inside, and RCMP determined they were taken to a cheque cashing store.
Allard, who had brought in some jewelry to exchange for money, was subsequently arrested near the location while Deschene was apprehended the next day.
The court was told the two had been a couple for some time. The escapade began when Allard got a "panicked phone call" from Deschene telling him she had just violated her parole, was wanted by police and was back on crystal methamphetamine.
By that point, Deschene was about six months pregnant, and the two were hoping to avoid custody so the child could be born outside of jail, the court was told.
They went to Alberta to seek help from a relative of Deschene's. Rebuffed, they went on the spree.
Prior to that, Allard, who has no prior record for property crime and is a journeyman carpenter, was an assistant site superintendent for a construction company in Vancouver, overseeing a dozen employees, the court heard.
Allard no longer wants anything to do with Deschene but hopes to develop a relationship with the child once he's done his time. He told the court it was "never my intention to cause all of this trouble."
Had Allard not pleaded guilty, a trial estimated at 20 days was in store, the court was told.
In all, Allard was sentenced to three years in prison but received 190 days credit for time served prior to sentencing, meaning he has 905 days to go. The sentence was an uncontested joint submission from Crown and defence counsels.
