Duo convicted of assaulting Kamloops cop on rural road given house arrest | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Duo convicted of assaulting Kamloops cop on rural road given house arrest

Image Credit: FILE PHOTO

KAMLOOPS - Two Interior men won't be able to leave their homes for months after assaulting a Kamloops Mountie and leaving him unconscious on a rural road.

Jerry Lamar, 52, and Leon Leclerc, 47, have been given two-year conditional sentences, most of which will be served as house arrest. They'll only be allowed outside for one hour per day.

The assault was captured on dashcam footage from the police cruiser and the tape was played in court. The video showed Lamar being pulled over near Pritchard for having expired insurance on his trailer.

Const. Paul Koester launched an impaired driving investigation shortly after checking out Lamar's vehicle, because he had smelled alcohol. Lamar is seen and heard in the video discussing his alcohol consumption with Koester.

Leclerc is shown slowly approaching Lamar and Koester from about 30 to 40 feet away, Kamloops Supreme Court judge Dev Dley said today, Jan. 27. Koester asks Leclerc to back off, but Lamar became confrontational after that.

"The dashcam shows Const. Koester was remarkably patient with Mr. Lamar," Dley said.

Koester deployed his pepper spray after Lamar started to run and at some point Lamar suffered a blow to the back of the head. Koester chased Lamar to the side of the vehicle.

Lamar got on top of Koester and delivered multiple blows. Court heard Koester reached for his firearm and Lamar yelled something to the effect of "Leon, gun."

Leclerc began kicking and stomping on Koester's shoulder, with one blow indirectly hitting Koester in the head, knocking him unconscious. 

The pair hopped in Lamar's vehicle and fled the scene, leaving Koester unconscious on the side of a rural road until a passerby spotted him and tended to his injuries.

Crown lawyers asked for jail sentences for both men. They asked for Lamar to be imprisoned for nine to 12 months and asked for an 18-month sentence for Leclerc.

Dley noted the seriousness of the offence but sided with the defence, who suggested a conditional sentence order.

He said Lamar and Leclerc appeared in the video to be "a couple of bullies flexing their muscles like back alley thugs."

The conditional sentences are for two years less a day, followed by a two-year probation period.

Lamar will spend the first seven months on strict house arrest, only allowed to leave his house for one hour per day. One day a week he can be accompanied by his mother to do necessary things to get him through the week. During the following eight months of his house arrest, he will be able to leave his home for work. 

Lawyers are expected to meet within the next few weeks to determine if Lamar will need to wear an electronic monitoring device. Because he lives in a rural area, the equipment may not work. If it does work at the homes of both Lamar and Leclerc, both men will be required to wear the devices.

Leclerc's house arrest will be for 18 months and he will not be able to leave his home for the first half of the order.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Ashley Legassic or call 250-319-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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