Man sentenced to 34 months for Saanich home invasion, stabbing

‘You’re too old for this,’ judge tells addict, 52, who pleaded guilty at trial

A judge was asked to consider a “curious” case involving a spiderweb tattoo, a licence plate number scrawled on a sticky note and matching Nike shoes found miles apart, as a Saanich home invasion and stabbing trial got underway in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday.

But by the afternoon, Rande Michael Brown, 52, pleaded guilty to break-and-enter with intent to commit an offence at the Potvin home on St. Peter’s Road in the early morning of Sept. 22, 2015.

“The offence of breaking into someone’s home is a very serious offence. It has long-term consequences on the people living there. The sanctity of their homes has been violated,” said Justice Geoffrey Gaul, as he sentenced Brown to 34 months in prison, followed by two years of probation.

“Mr. Brown is not a youthful offender. What he is doing involved in this kind of escapade is not just criminal, it’s a stupid thing to do,” said Gaul, looking directly at Brown.

He credited the recovering heroin addict with 19.5 months of pretrial custody. This means Brown has 14.5 months left to serve on his sentence.

“When you get out, stay out of it,” said Gaul. “You’re too old for this … . It may not go well.”

Crown prosecutor Joselyn Byrne told the court that Dave and Louise Potvin were asleep upstairs, while their son, Michael, slept downstairs. About 2 a.m., Michael woke, heard noises and jumped out of bed in his underwear. He switched on a light and saw two figures with their backs to him.

Brown was holding Michael’s laptop. Another taller man had the father’s laptop from upstairs. When Michael confronted them, they ran at him, charging him, Byrne said.

Michael grappled with Brown, grabbing him by the belt. At this point, the taller man — who has never been identified — stabbed Michael in his right bicep.

Although he was bleeding profusely, Michael didn’t know he had been stabbed. Brown asked him to let him go. His father came downstairs in his pyjamas and slippers and tried to get hold of Brown.

Brown ran out through the garage, chased by the Potvins, Byrne said.

A neighbour saw two suspects running off. Brown got into a car he borrowed from the woman he was living with and sped off.

Dave called out the plate number to his wife, who wrote it down on a sticky note.

“Michael is bleeding everywhere and it’s a shocking event,” Byrne said.

His father took Michael to hospital, where he received several stitches. During a police interview later that morning, he described a spider-web tattoo on the man he’d been fighting with.

In the meantime, Brown had dropped the car off in a parking lot at 760 Queens Ave., then fled.

In the Potvins’ home, police found a left Nike running shoe, size 11, that had Brown’s DNA on it.

A right Nike running shoe, also size 11, was found about four metres from the car in the parking lot on Queens Avenue.

“The only thing tying Brown to the Potvins’ residence was the shoe left behind,” said Byrne. “The shoe in the parking lot had Michael’s blood on it and Brown’s DNA. He was wearing those shoes.”

Curiously, Brown has size eight feet, said Byrne. “He was wearing shoes too big for him. That’s why one of them fell off.”

The case is puzzling because the family does not appear to have been targeted, said Byrne. It’s a random and completely senseless crime.

Meat and liquor were also stolen from an outdoor fridge.

Brown was arrested in July 2016 after police received the DNA results.

“This case is every family’s worst nightmare, to be asleep in bed and to wake up and find intruders in the house,” Byrne said.

Defence lawyer Michael Munro said his client had a longterm heroin addiction and would have been under the influence during the break-in.

Brown has been clean for 10 months and is on a methadone program, said Munro.

Brown is taking a bike course and next week starts a violence prevention course. He is skilled in being able to buy and sell things for a small profit and would like to open a second-hand store.

“Hopefully he has reached an age where he can make better decisions. He certainly knows better, although he had no idea violence was going to take place and is certainly remorseful for what happened.”

Brown stood and apologized to the Potvins, who were present in the courtroom.

Gaul accepted his guilty plea and expression of remorse. He ordered Brown to give a DNA sample to the authorities and imposed a lifetime firearms prohibition.