Vernon man convicted of assault after vigilante confrontation with homeless couple

Photo: File photo

A Vernon man has been convicted of assault with a weapon after using a skid-steer Bobcat to chase two homeless people from his lawn, injuring one of them in the process.

“This is an unfortunate case of an otherwise law abiding citizen making assumptions about two vulnerable people.," B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jeremy Guild said in a written decision.

"This is a case about an otherwise law abiding citizen taking the law into his own hands. And this case is a result of his assumptions and subsequent drastic actions.”

The case arose from John Mcrae’s “frustration with what were described as homeless, transient or street people trespassing and loitering on his property, which he said had happened a few times earlier in the summer [of 2022], and in particular that week,” according to the judge's decision.

The drama started when Tia Myiot and Antonio Savinainen were riding their bicycles from downtown Vernon towards Kin Beach had all of their possessions on their bicycles and in a couple of packs.

In the report, Guild said Myiot was susceptible to heat stroke and had to stop, as it happened in front of Mcrae’s property. She and Savinainen sat in some shade on or within a few feet of the path.

The Mcraes, who were in their 60s, had owned and operated a landscaping business out of their four-acre residential property for more than 30 years.

“Mcrae saw the couple and believed they were on his lawn. Mrs. Mcrae arrived home from a landscape job and saw two people laying down she believed just off the path, on their lawn in the shade of a tree," Guild wrote.

"The Mcrae’s talked about what they should do about the two people they believed were on their lawn. They telephoned bylaw officers, who apparently told them to call police. The Mcraes did not."

Instead, they decided to get the “street people” off their property by Mcrae using a skid-steer Bobcat to move the couple’s belongings. Mcrae went outside and told them to leave. They responded and started to move, although they did not think they were doing anything wrong, as they believed they were on public property.

Mcrae turned on a sprinkler with the intent of soaking Myiot and her boyfriend, as they were not moving fast enough for him.

“They again did not move quickly enough for Mr. Mcrae, who immediately went to get his Bobcat, and put on the largest bucket he had to intimidate and strike fear into Ms. Myiot and Mr. Savinainen," Guild wrote.

"He drove it towards the couple. They were within a few feet of their effects, gathering them while Ms. Myiot was still recovering from heat stroke. Mr. Mcrae banged the large metal bucket on the ground and then drove and scooped up their packs and bicycles.”

Mcrea pushed the couple's belongings more than 100 feet on the asphalt path and dumped their effects on the boulevard in front of his neighbour’s property.

“He gave no reason for having to push them there, as opposed to just ensuring the effects were not on his property. He gave no reason why he chose to push them in front of his neighbour’s property,” Guild wrote.

“Unsurprisingly, Ms. Myiot and Mr. Savinainen tried to stop him from moving and damaging their effects, running near the Bobcat, yelling and waving their arms. Mr. Mcrae ignored them. Another unknown male also hailed down Mr. Mcrae, who stopped the Bobcat very close to the male, such that the male was between the bucket and the body of the Bobcat. After a brief conversation Mr. Mcrae “twitched” the bucket, grazing the male with it.”

Angered by Mcrea's actions, Savinainen used a chain to try to stop the Bobcat and a hand saw to damage a few flowers in the Mcrae’s flower bed near the path.

“Mr. Mcrae drove back to their effects and ran over them on purpose to damage them further. He then fled to a nearby gas station to avoid police,” Guild wrote.

Guild found Mcrea guilty of assault and guilty of dangerous driving.

A date for his sentencing has not been set.

To read the full decision, click here.

— with a file from CTV News