Penticton man arrested driving stolen vehicles two days in a row placed under house arrest – Penticton News

A Penticton man who was caught driving two stolen pickup trucks on consecutive days in July 2023 while having a pistol in one of the vehicles has been sentenced to 18 months of house arrest to be served at a drug treatment centre in Kamloops, followed by 12 months of probation.

Ronald Jason Stewart, 49, pleaded guilty to five counts related to possession of stolen trucks and possession of firearms and ammunition Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna. The case was transferred from Penticton to Kelowna for sentencing.

According to a joint Crown-defence submission, Stewart was found in the first pickup truck, a grey Ford F350 crew cab, 12 days after it was reported stolen in the South Okanagan. Police were told the truck was driving on the road to Mt. Baldy. Three days later, police received a report of a grey Ford F350 crew cab stuck on a road near Bridesville, with a U-Haul trailer.

When police arrived, the truck and trailer were pinned and chained together. Stewart and a woman, identified in court as Kelcey Campbell, were sleeping in the truck. An unloaded .22-caliber pistol was found in the truck and a box of .22-caliber ammunition was found in the U-Haul trailer.

Crown prosecutor Ann Lerchs said Campbell is Stewart’s co-accused in the case, but she was not in court Monday. Lerchs said Campbell will appear at a later date.

Stewart and Campbell were arrested but later released on promises to appear in court again.

The next day, July 27, 2023, an Oliver RCMP officer spotted another pickup truck that had been reported stolen, this time a Dodge, driving near Keremeos.

The vehicle was found at a property on River Road, with a man and a woman inside. As police approached, the truck reversed, hit a police car and sped away.

No one was injured in the incident and police did not pursue the truck.

The truck was later discovered on a road in Keremeos with Stewart and Campbell inside.

The court was told Stewart had a criminal record, including six convictions, including one for dangerous driving. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison for that and served his sentence, Lercks said.

In 2019, Stewart was involved in an incident where a police car was hit by a stolen truck he was driving.

Stewart’s attorney, Jeremy Jensen, said his client had been addicted to fentanyl since his early 30s and that at the beginning of his addiction, his brother died.

Stewart has been in custody for nearly a year and has received restitution for that time on two of the seven charges he faced.

He pleaded guilty to the other five charges, which involved possession of stolen trucks, attacking the police car and possession of firearms and ammunition.

The suspended sentence handed down Monday required Stewart to be driven to Kamloops Monday night after sentencing and immediately admitted to the Mustard Seed Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre in Kamloops. He must remain there, receiving treatment and counselling under house arrest for 18 months. His mother, who was present in court, said she would drive him to the facility.

Upon his release, he will be on probation for one year, during which time he will have to continue his treatment and therapy sessions. He will be prohibited from owning a firearm for 10 years, unless it is specifically authorized for subsistence hunting. (Stewart is Indigenous).

He will also have to provide a DNA sample to be placed on a criminal register, will be banned from driving for three years (except to work or to medical appointments) and will have to forfeit the weapon and ammunition found so they can be destroyed.