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Cody Troy Douglas Smith was likely high when he passed out behind the wheel of a stolen car parked outside a Vernon dollar store.

It was mid-morning in December 2023 and, noticing the car was idling, staff at the store called the RCMP.

When officers arrived they noticed two drinking can-sized objects in the car, both with wicks poking out of them.

Smith, 30, was arrested and the area near Vernon's London Drugs was cordoned off for the next 10 hours.

He was charged with two counts of making or making or possessing explosives, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, impersonation with intent to gain advantage and four charges of having identity documents that weren't his.

Police at the time said the pipe bombs had the "potential to cause serious injury if activated."

However, Monday, Feb. 24 at the Vernon courthouse, lawyers said the bombs were "not significant" and akin to a firecrackers or a sparklers. There was no explanation given in court as to why the police's definition of the dangers of the pipe bombs was so different from what the court heard.

Dressed neatly, and looking healthy, Smith sat in the public gallery as his lawyer, Laura McPheeters, said Smith had borrowed the stolen car from an "unsavoury" person.

"He said he wasn’t making good decisions, because he was high all the time," McPheeters told the court.

The court heard that Smith was "willfully blind" to the fact there were two potential pipe bombs in the car, and he didn't know what a pipe bomb looked like.

Smith's brush with the law started a few months before he was found asleep in the stolen vehicle.

He was living on the Okanagan Indian Band reserve with his partner and their three children. However, he isn't a member of the Okanagan Indian Band and wasn't welcome there and had been told his on multiple occasions.

Late at night on Aug. 30, 2023, the issue came to a head.

Several of his neighbours were out just before midnight searching for a youth who was missing. They came across Smith and told him they didn't want him on the reserve.

He lifted his shirt up to expose what they thought was a handgun and said, "Oh yeah, what are you going to do."

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Someone called 911 and "a lot" of RCMP officers were deployed to the area.

Smith fled in a vehicle and it wasn't until 1:30 a.m. that he was spotted by police.

Two spike belts were deployed but Smith drove over them and with flat tires continued. He managed to get away but was arrested the following day.

The weapon turned out to be an Airsoft pistol and not a handgun.

Facing a dozen charges from the two events, Smith avoided going to trial and instead pleaded guilty to four counts, including assault with a weapon and fleeing police, along with possessing explosives and having someone else's identity documents.

He spent two months in custody before being released on bail.

Since being released he'd been in rehab and has now been clean and sober for 14 months.

"He wants to abstain and he can and he will," his defence lawyer told the court.

Not much was heard about Smith's life, only that he was originally from Alberta and had three children with his partner.

His dealings with the authorities had only started about the time of the first incident, and after getting clean he hadn't breached his bail.

Smith was living in a largely independent environment at a rehab centre in the Lower Mainland and working part-time as a landscaper.

He'd been under house arrest with no issues and changed the terms of his curfew so he could play softball with others from the treatment centre.

"He’s done extremely well," McPheeters said. "It's remarkable he’s done as well as he had done and that's a reason for wanting to keep him out of jail."

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The defence proposed a sentence of three months jail, which with credit he'd already served.

Crown prosecutor James Bagan agreed with the defence lawyer's suggestion.

"I think the recommendation is a reasonable one," BC Provincial Court Judge Richard Hewson said.

The judge highlighted that a pre-sentence report said Smith had taken responsibility for his actions and had taken real steps in his rehabilitation.

"I have to balance that," Judge Hewson said.

Ultimately, the judge sentenced Smith to three months, which he'd already served, and banned him from driving for 12 months. He'll now be on probation for 18 months with one of the conditions being no alcohol or drugs.

Both Crown and defence lawyers had wanted Smith barred from the Okanagan Indian Band reserve, but Judge Hewson refused to order it.

The Judge said higher courts had ruled that prohibiting someone from an area just took the problem and put it somewhere else.

If the Okanagan Indian Band wanted to prohibit Smith from entering it could pass a resolution through its council, the judge said.

With that, Smith walked out of the courtroom to catch a bus back to the Lower Mainland.

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