Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
September 26, 2016 - 8:00 PM
KAMLOOPS - A Vancouver man will spend another two months behind bars after pleading guilty to stealing from a Merritt motel and stealing a pick-up truck.
Brandon McMillan, 30, pleaded guilty to theft, stealing a car and fleeing from police during a crime spree in Merritt this summer.
He entered his plea in Kamloops Provincial Court today, Sept. 26.
Court heard McMillan and his girlfriend Dustryne McIntyre went to the Intown Motel on Aug. 13. McMillan noticed no one was present at the front desk and a sign indicated the manager was elsewhere in the building.
Crown prosecutor Andrew Duncan told the court McMillan climbed a barrier to get behind the front counter and stole a cash box. There was between $100 to $120 inside and the box itself was worth about $200.
McMillan and McIntyre took off with the box. When the manager came back to the counter, he noticed the box was gone and called police.
Officers were able to access surveillance footage showing McMillan hopping the counter and taking the box.
A short time later, police received another call about a stolen pick-up truck in the city. A woman had gotten up from bed and heard her husband's truck running outside.
Court heard the woman woke her husband and they saw the white Chevrolet pull away.
Police began patrolling the Coquihalla and Highway 97. Officers spotted the stolen truck on Highway 8 near the interchange and activated their lights and sirens.
The truck picked up speed and officers created a plan in hopes of catching the truck.
"A spike belt had to be deployed," Judge Roy Dickey said. "The driving was significantly poor."
The vehicle ran over the belt near the Coldwater Road exit and came to a stop near Larson Hill. McMillan and McIntyre hopped out of the truck and fled on foot down a steep enbankment.
Court heard officers caught up to McIntyre but lost sight of McMillan. Police then called in a dog squad, but before they got there an officer spotted McMillan in the bushes curled in a ball.
Dickey sentenced McMillan to 120 days in custody, but he has been given credit for 66 days.
McMillan is also banned from driving for 18 months and has been put on a one year probation.
McIntyre is also expected to plead guilty in Kamloops Provincial Court today.
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