A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to one year of probation for inflicting more than $7,700 worth of damage to the entrance of Burnaby apartment building two years ago.
Charles William Pronteau pleaded guilty in Vancouver provincial court Monday to one count of mischief to property over $5,000.
The charge relates to an incident just before 3 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2022, when Pronteau broke the fob reader at the Centrepoint highrise at 4808 Hazel St. in Metrotown, according to information presented in court by Crown prosecutor Louise Gauld.
He then smashed the glass entry door with a screwdriver.
"It was quite a lot of damage," Gauld said.
In a joint sentencing submission, Gauld and defence lawyer Adil Ahmed both called for a suspended sentence with one year of probation.
While Pronteau has a "serious and relevant" criminal record, according to Gauld, she said there was a was a significant break between the last offence and the Centrepoint incident, and there have been no further allegations since.
Gauld said she was not asking for a restitution order because the Centrepoint building manager had been unable to confirm how much of the damage had been covered by insurance.
Ahmed said Pronteau, a longshoreman by trade, had been drinking excessively and using cocaine at the time of the incident but had since turned his life around.
B.C. provincial court Judge John Milne accepted the joint submission and sentenced Pronteau to a year of probation.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]
