A 31-year-old man has been handed a 120-day jail sentence and a year of probation after being caught jaywalking in Burnaby with a homemade stun gun.
Troy Reedman pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing a prohibited weapon and obstructing a police officer in relation to incidents in the Metrotown area on July 20, 2021.
At about 7:15 p.m. that day, a Metro Vancouver Transit Police officer spotted Reedman jaywalking and narrowly avoiding traffic near Central Boulevard and Bonsor Avenue.
Reedman gave the officer a fake name when the officer stopped him, but the officer identified Reedman using mugshots and tattoos and determined Reedman was wanted on a warrant out of Vancouver, according to agreed facts presented at a sentencing hearing in Vancouver provincial court.
Then Reedman took off.
“Mr. Reedman abruptly dropped his bags and fled on foot westbound on Central Boulevard,” Crown prosecutor Carla Risley said.
A search of Reedman’s suitcase and two duffle bags after the officer caught up with him produced three knives and a homemade conductive energy weapon.
Reedman was under a release order at the time prohibiting him from carrying knives—and an expert later determined the CEW was in good working order and fit the description of a prohibited weapon.
“It was determined that it had the characteristics of a CEW capable of injuring, immobilizing or incapacitating a person or animal by discharging an electric charge,” Risley said.
Reedman was also originally charged with possession of a firearm contrary to an order, but that charge was stayed Tuesday.
Reedman ran into trouble with the police again a couple months ago in Vancouver.
On June 4, an officer saw him riding a bike on a sidewalk on Powell Street, but Reedman refuse to stop.
When officers did stop him, they determined he was wanted on four separate warrants and he was carrying six knives, bear spray, a baton and a quantity of drugs in breach of a probation order.
Reedman pleaded guilty to that charge as well Tuesday.
In a joint sentencing submission, Risley and defence lawyer Sara Clouston called for a 120-day jail sentence and one year of probation.
B.C. provincial court Judge John Milne accepted the submission.
“I’m satisfied that’s a fit sentence in the circumstances,” he said.
Reedman is already under two lifetime firearms bans. During his probation, he will be prohibited from possessing weapons and knives.
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