A piece of shrapnel from a car bomb blew a hole through a garage wall at an Oliver residence this summer.
Image Credit: RCMP
December 02, 2013 - 5:25 PM
'YOUR PYRO DAYS ARE DONE'
PENTICTON - Detonating a car bomb is no way to deal with allegations of bullying, according to a Penticton judge.
Stephan Wesley Daoust, 19, and his older brother were charged with placing or throwing explosive to damage property in connection to an explosion in Oliver Aug. 11. Daoust admitted he put the bomb on the car and although no one was hurt, judge Gale Sinclair said it was no doubt frightening to everyone.
"I suspect the good citizens of Oliver thought the Taliban had come to town," Sinclair said.
Metal from the pipe bomb tore through a garage wall and through a two-by-four stud before coming to rest inside a home between Okanagan Street and Earle Crescent. According to the Crown, residents first thought it was a lightning strike.
A police officer noticed a blast mark on the car and first suspected an explosive device. Investigation eventually led to the arrest of the two brothers. Daoust was also charged with assault with a weapon for unleashing bear spray inside a home Sept. 8 in an unrelated incident. The woman told police she thought it was acid and didn't know what was happening.
Defence lawyer Don Skogstad said Daoust claimed he was being bullied by someone who lived at the home.
Daoust pleaded guilty to the bomb charge and to the assault and received a 90-day intermittment sentence to be served at the Oliver RCMP detachment. He will also be under a two-year curfew and has to report to a probation officer.
"Your pyro days are done," Sinclair told him, and issued a 10-year weapons ban which included bomb-making materials. Skogstad said those items are common in Oliver as they are used in bird-bangers in orchards and vineyards.
Also on Monday, older brother Eric Olivier Daoust, 23, was granted bail with a $2,000 surety and is expected in Penticton court on Dec. 18.
To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, send tweets to @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013