Convict faces straight time after skipping weekend at jail

One of four men who nearly froze to death after a stolen truck got stuck in the bush near Penticton three years ago has parlayed his 21-day intermittent sentence from that incident into 51 days of straight jail time.

Damian Taylor Baptiste, 26, pleaded guilty to one count each of being unlawfully at large and breach of probation, and was sentenced Monday in provincial court in Penticton.

Court heard Baptiste failed to show up at the Oliver RCMP detachment on Oct. 30, 2015, when he was scheduled to serve his first weekend of the 21-day intermittent sentence. Two weeks later, he failed to report to his probation officer.

“He was obviously afraid to report to probation because he didn’t report to jail,” observed Judge Gale Sinclair.

Noting a prior conviction for breach of probation, Crown counsel Nashina Devji suggested concurrent sentences of 30 days on the new charges, and conversion of the 21-day intermittent sentence to straight time.

Defence counsel Norm Yates didn’t offer an explanation for his client’s no-shows, but said Baptiste had recently become a father and “recognizes he has a big responsibility now.”

Yates also expressed concern that a fresh jail term would cause Baptiste to miss a heavy-equipment operator’s course for which he has already registered, but the judge said his hands are tied.

“Once you’ve blown an intermittent sentence, it gets converted to straight time. I can’t do anything about it,” Sinclair told him.

The judge noted, however, that with statutory release at the twothirds mark of the 51-day sentence, Baptiste should be out in time to start the course.

Baptiste was handed the 21-day term and credited with 45 days’ time served after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of stolen property in connection with a December 2014 crime spree.

That series of events saw him and three other men flee from police in trucks stolen from homes in Oliver and Naramata.

The chase ended in -20 C weather on a trail near Chute Lake when one of the trucks became stuck in deep snow.

Baptiste and another man were both found in the truck and taken to hospital for treatment.

Two others were located outside after a search by police, who became concerned about their well-being in the cold weather.