By Taylor MacPherson

Man caught with homemade Taser and crack to serve 17 months

Apr 26, 2017 | 2:00 PM

A young Muskoday man busted with a homemade Taser and a “fist-sized” bag of crack will be spending more than 17 months in custody.

Justin Bear, 19, was given a global sentence this morning in Prince Albert Provincial Court covering several drug and weapons related incidents which began late last year.

In one incident from Nov. 9, 2016, court heard Bear and an accomplice went to a man’s residence intending to jump him. Bear swung a baseball bat that narrowly missed the victim, who then fled on foot while Bear’s accomplice burned his vehicle.

During a second incident which occurred Jan. 1, RCMP on the Muskoday First Nation noticed a vehicle pulling into the driveway of the home where Bear was known to reside under court-ordered conditions. Officers noted Bear was in the passenger seat and, as he had broken his curfew, placed him under arrest.

At this point, prosecutor Brent Slobodian said Bear became “quite argumentative” and resisted the efforts of the arresting officers. Meanwhile the driver of the vehicle blew the horn to attract attention, and Bear’s mother came out of the home and attempted to interfere with the arresting officers.

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“[Bear] was kicking and trying to get out of the vehicle,” Slobodian said. “He made an attempt to kick Const. McDonald in the face three times.”

Eventually officers were able to restrain Bear in the back of a police cruiser. A search of the vehicle Bear had arrived in revealed a machete under the passenger seat and a “fist-sized” bag of suspected crack cocaine in the glove box. Also seized was a small quantity of marijuana and a homemade Taser.

Slobodian said the bag contained 46.6 g of crack, which he called “a considerable amount,” and noted Bear admitted to selling the controlled drug in a statement to RCMP following his arrest.

Based on a joint agreement between the Crown and defense, Bear was sentenced to two years less a day on all of his charges. Because he has been held in custody since his arrest in January, Bear was given credit for the time he has already served, leaving him with 17 months and 15 days remaining on his sentence. He was also ordered to submit to DNA testing and will be prohibited from owning any weapons for 10 years upon his release.

Judge Felicia Daunt said Bear will have to give up his penchant for weapons and said she hopes he uses his time in prison to complete programming.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews