Motel manager fined after melee with guests, cops
The manager of a Penticton motel was fined $750 on Monday for his role in a police incident earlier this year that resulted from a fight with guests.
Carlos Pontes, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing a police officer and was sentenced in provincial court in Penticton.
Court heard the altercation happened around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 28 at the Spanish Villa Motel on Lakeshore Drive after Pontes received numerous complaints about a loud party in a guest’s room.
When police arrived, the subject of the complaints, whom Pontes had deemed a trespasser and tried to evict, claimed that Pontes had assaulted him.
Based off of the information they received, officers made the decision to place Pontes under arrest. Upon learning of their decision, Pontes became physically and verbally violent; after pushing past one officer, he began resisting arrest by attempting to break free from their grip, which led to officers forcing him to the ground where they then handcuffed him.
Pontes began spewing derogatory terms at officers before laughing as he became dead weight, forcing officers to then drag him to the police vehicle. He used his feet to resist being placed in the car and refused to bend his knees to sit in the vehicle.
Police noted that there was alcohol on Pontes’ breath and that he was heavily intoxicated at the time.
“My client was very upset . . . and felt that this was being dealt with improperly,” defence counsel Tyrone Duerr told Monday’s sentencing hearing.
“He got quite agitated and behaved quite poorly. He regrets that significantly.”
Upon arrival at the RCMP station, Pontes remained difficult with officers during the booking process. He refused to be compliant during a search of his person by police, and again he was forced to the ground in the cell block for officers to be able to complete their search. He was released at 12:30 p.m. that day.
“Mr. Pontes does struggle with substance dependency with respect to alcohol and he has taken a number of steps to address that,” Duerr added in Pontes’ defence.
Pontes was arrested again on June 11 for assaulting his ex-wife.
He pleaded guilty to that offence too on Monday and was placed on a one-year peace bond that will require Pontes to stay away from the woman, plus get counselling for anger management and substance abuse.
“I’m just kind of disgusted with my actions . . . it’s not who I am,” Pontes said when given a chance to address the court.
“I intend to make an improvement in my life.”