Man terrorizes innocents with weaponized skidsteer

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An Okanagan man who used a skid-steer loader to destroy the possessions of a homeless couple, knocking one of them unconscious as he ran over their belongings, will not face jail time for the assault.

The charges stem from an incident in August 2022, when the couple, Tia Myiot and Antonio Savinainen, were riding their bikes from downtown Vernon to nearby Kin Beach.

The couple stopped their bikes along a public path to rest in the shade of a tree near Mcrae's home, as Myiot was prone to suffering heat stroke and the temperature that day would reach over 32 C.

"They were going for one last visit to the beach before leaving Vernon to get away from the drug subculture, and to deal with their substance use disorder, commonly referred to as an addiction," the judge wrote. "They had all of their possessions in the world on their bicycles and in a couple of packs."

When Mcrae and his wife spotted the couple, believing them to be trespassing on their property, they called bylaw officers, who in turn advised them to call the police.

Instead of calling the police, Mcrae went outside and told the couple to leave.

They started to move along, "although they did not think they were doing anything wrong as they believed they were on public property," but not fast enough for Mcrae, who turned on a sprinkler and began soaking the pair with water, the court heard.

"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," the judge wrote.

The couple protested, running alongside the Bobcat and waving their arms. A bystander who saw the altercation tried to intervene, getting "between the bucket and the body of the Bobcat," the court heard. "After a brief conversation, Mr. Mcrae 'twitched' the bucket, grazing the male (bystander) with it."

An angry Savinainen began to damage the flowers in Mcrae's flowerbed, which the judge described as "understandable" given Mcrae's "cruelty."

The homeowner then drove the Bobcat back to the couple's bikes and belongings, running over and destroying them, before fleeing to a nearby gas station to avoid the police, the judge wrote.

While repeatedly driving over the bikes, Mcrae spun the machine around, striking Myiot with the bucket and knocking her unconscious, the court heard.

Mcrae testified at the trial that he had multiple experiences with people "trespassing and loitering" on his property, including instances earlier that summer. The judge concluded Mcrae's criminal behaviour was motivated by "bias, prejudice and assumptions" towards those the offender characterized as "street people."