Vernon man used bobcat to scare homeless couple

A Vernon man who used a bobcat loader to run a homeless couple off his property has been convicted of assault.

“This is an unfortunate case of an otherwise law-abiding citizen making assumptions about two vulnerable people,” wrote Judge Jeremy Guild in a decision released last week. The case was heard in provincial court over two days in August and two more days in January.

William John Mcrae and his wife were frustrated with people trespassing and loitering on their property, the judge wrote.

On Aug. 26, 2022, Tia Myiot and Antonio Savinainen were riding their bicycles on a multi-use path and stopped in front of the Mcrae’s property to get some shade. Myiot said she was feeling dizzy from the heat.

“They were going for one last visit to the beach before leaving Vernon to get away from the drug subculture,” the judge wrote. “They had all of their possessions in the world on their bicycles and in a couple of packs. The couple were hoping to have a pleasant few hours before continuing with their recovery plans.”

When the Mcraes saw the couple had stopped on their lawn, they phoned the city bylaw department, which told them to call police.

“The Mcraes did not,” the judge wrote. “Instead, they decided to get the ‘street people’ off their property by Mr. Mcrae using a skid-steer Bobcat to move the couple’s personal effects.”

That was after he turned a sprinkler on the couple.

“He drove it towards the couple. Mr. Mcrae banged the large metal bucket on the ground and then drove and scooped up their packs and bicycles.”

Another man tried to stop Mcrae. “After a brief conversation Mr. Mcrae ‘twitched’ the bucket, grazing the male with it,” the judge wrote.

Myiot was also hit with the bobcat and had bruises as a result, the court heard.

Mcrae was charged with two counts of assault - one for assaulting Myiot and the second for operating the bobcat in a method dangerous to the public.

Mcrae, who runs a landscape business, is an experienced bobcat operator, the judge noted.

A witness described a chaotic scene. “He … saw a bobcat near some cedar hedges, doing what he described as a bunch of 360s on some people’s belongings. He got out of his vehicle and saw two people standing where the Bobcat was driving over the belongings. He described how the two people were running around frantically, yelling and screaming, and that there was lots of commotion.”

“Enraged, Mr. Mcrae drove back to their effects, intent on destroying their bikes.”

The judge said Mcrae acted the way he did because he thought the couple was homeless.

“I have no doubt that Mr. Mcrae would not have done what he did to an elderly or other person suffering from heat stroke. I am sure he would have asked if they needed help, and provided it. He did not do so because of bias, prejudice and assumptions: precisely what Ms. Myiot said she had suffered from her entire life.”

Guild wrote that even if the couple were on the Mcrae’s property, which was disputed, “he did not comply with the requirements of the Trespass Act.”

“He was still required to take reasonable care of their personal property; and he would only be entitled to move the couple’s possessions off his property, not push them 30 meters over asphalt.”

Police arrested Mcrae in the washroom of a nearby gas station.

“I conclude he fled because he knew what he did was wrong,” the judge wrote.

The decision made no references to sentencing.