Seven-month sentence for harassment in case involving February standoff

A 38-year-old Hatter pled guilty to criminal harassment Thursday, in a case that led officers to block off a residential street in mid-February to make an arrest.

Justin Legasse received a jail sentence of seven months, and 18 months probation — with 66 days left to serve, due to time spent in custody.

According to the agreed statement of facts, the 39year-old had been contacting his ex-common law wife from the period of Jan. 27 to Feb. 11, with 50 calls per day saying he was suicidal and going to kill himself with a firearm.

As there was a history of domestic violence, the Crown said this caused her to fear for her safety.

Police went to speak to the accused early on Feb. 12 at a residence on Cuyler Road — at which point he is alleged to have produced a firearm and threatened to kill himself. As a precaution, this led police to retreat from the residence, evacuate the neighbours and barricade the street for several hours until he could be safely brought into custody.

The only charge stemming from this part of the incident with police was a breach for having a weapon — which was withdrawn by the Crown, alongside a charge of uttering threats.

Lagasse will be paying $1,000 restitution for damage that was caused during the arrest.

Defence counsel told the court that the contact in part was due to the accused wanting to get his dog from the victim, and part of the issue has to do with mental health — while the accused does well while in counselling, it “sometimes goes downhill.”