Two men were sentenced Monday for their roles in a botched home invasion in which one of the perpetrators got more than she bargained for.
Michael Campbell-Alexander, 18, will serve a further eight months and three weeks in jail and Elliott Ryan Joseph, 31, another 3 1/2 months, both sentences followed by two years probation, from the Feb. 2 incident at a 3600-block Blackburn Road home.
The court was told the home's resident was asleep when he woke up to find someone he identified by her voice as Crystal Dawn Schielke, 23, holding a gun to his head. She was followed by a masked man who bear sprayed him while the two demanded he tell her "where the money was" before he was bear sprayed a second time.
They found $400 to $500 in cash and "half-heartedly" tried to tie him up before hitting him over the head with a keyboard and taking off. But the resident followed them out armed with a hatchet.
He found a sedan stuck in the snow outside his home and broke the driver's side window.
Then using the hatchet's butt end, he broke the arm of a man who was behind the wheel. He then used the butt end to break the jaw of Schielke, who was sitting in the back.
A neighbour was about to help push the car out of the driveway when the resident told her to stop and he had just been robbed.
Police, who were called to the scene shortly after 8:30 p.m., arrested the two. But at least three others - Campbell-Alexander, Joseph and a youth whose name cannot be printed under a court-ordered publication ban - had taken off in the resident's pickup truck after finding its keys in the house.
Campbell-Alexander was apprehended five days later and was found with one of the homeowner's firearms. Joseph was located in early March.
A 12-day trial had been scheduled on the matter but did not go ahead after Campbell-Alexander, Joseph and Schielke each pleaded guilty to a number of charges.
Crown accepted the pleas after concluding convictions on the remaining charges would be doubtful because of the confusion surrounding the event.
Schielke told police she had been on a multi-day drug binge when she came up with the idea of robbing the home while the group was driving around the city. She knew the resident through a friend, alleged he was making "moonshine" and was certain he had money.
In court Monday, the resident was described Monday as an "honest, working individual who met the wrong person through work." He no longer lives in the home, the court also heard.
The man found behind the wheel told police he had also been on a binge and had passed out in the car. He woke up to see the culprits run out of the house and yelling at him to "drive, drive" and, in a panic, got the vehicle stuck.
Both Campbell-Alexander, Elliott and Schielke have remained in custody since their arrests.
In all, Campbell-Alexander was sentenced to two years in jail, less enhanced credit for time served, on counts of break, enter and theft, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen weapon, possession of a firearm while prohibited and breach of probation.
Joseph was sentenced to 18 months, less enhanced credit for time served, on counts of break, enter and theft, and theft of a motor vehicle.
In agreeing to a joint submission on sentencing from Crown and defence counsels, provincial court judge Michael Gray called their actions "horrendous" and "violent" and warned they face lengthy jail terms if caught committing the same crimes again.
Joseph was also sentenced to six months concurrent for trying to sell stolen property in front of a convenience store in Fort
St. James in October 2013. The items had been stolen earlier in the day from some trucks parked outside a local hotel.
Schielke pleaded guilty to one count each of robbery, break and enter and committing an indictable offence, using an imitation firearm in committing an indictable offence, disguising her face with an intent to commit an offence. She will be sentenced at a later date.
The minor has been previously sentenced and charges against the man found behind the car's wheel have been stayed. His name is also protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
