By Taylor MacPherson

Drive-by shooting nets 5-year prison sentence

Jul 20, 2017 | 8:00 AM

A Prince Albert man who shot at a West Flat home over a drug dispute was handed a five-year prison sentence yesterday.

Branden Steven Davidson Vermette, 24, pleaded guilty to charges of intentionally discharging a firearm at a place he knew to be occupied and possession of a loaded, restricted firearm. The charges, nearly a year old, stem from an incident which occurred Aug. 25, 2016.

City police were called to a home in the 1,100-block of 12th St. W. at roughly 3:30 a.m. according to Senior Crown prosecutor Cynthia Alexander. The hysterical homeowner and another witness told officers they saw a car pull up outside, then several shots punched holes in the front window and the car drove away at high speed, Crown said. Alexander added the 38-year-old homeowner named Davidson Vermette as a potential suspect and told police the shooting may have happened because “I’m holding his dope.”

Police caught up with Davidson Vermette on Highway 55 as he was attempting to leave the city, and performed what Alexander referred to as “a high-risk takedown.” Acting on police instructions, Vermette threw an unloaded Ruger .22-calibre handgun out of the car prior to his arrest.

“He was wearing hard-plate body armour underneath his hoodie,” Alexander said, and noted officers discovered an additional .22 round and a piece of paper with the victim’s first name and phone number written on it in Davidson Vermette’s pockets after he was lodged in police cells.

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Investigators found six spent shell casings outside the 12th St. home as well as three bullets lodged in the drywall inside, Alexander told the court. The two adult witnesses and four children as young as eight years old were inside the home when the shooting occurred, she said.

Defence lawyer Patrick McDougall said Davidson Vermette only intended to scare the homeowners with his actions, and was “very much under the influence” of crystal meth at the time of the shooting.

“The victim was holding drugs for Mr. Davidson Vermette,” McDougall said.

Based on a joint recommendation by the Crown and defence, Judge Stephen Carter sentenced Davidson Vermette to three years for possessing the restricted handgun and a concurrent five years for firing it at the home. He was also prohibited from owning any firearms or ammunition for 10 years.

Davidson Vermette, who sat stoically behind the glass in the prisoner’s box throughout his appearance sporting a shaved head and thick beard, declined to say anything when Carter gave him the opportunity.

“Obviously what you did is extremely dangerous,” Carter told Davidson Vermette and said he should count himself lucky that none of his shots struck a child.

McDougall requested Davidson Vermette serve his time at an out-of-province institution because the homeowner’s spouse is currently incarcerated in the Saskatchewan Penitentiary and Davidson Vermette has been threatened on more than one occasion. Carter accepted that placing Davidson Vermette at the same institution as his victim’s spouse was a safety risk, and recommended he be incarcerated outside of Saskatchewan.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews