Man admits kicking down door in booze-fuelled confrontation

‘He never wants to go to Oktoberfest again,’ lawyer says

KITCHENER — Kevin Larocque has no recollection of what transpired after a night of heavy drinking at an Oktoberfest event. It wasn’t pretty.

Despite no memory of the events, the 33-year-old Kitchener man admitted in court on Thursday to kicking in two doors of an apartment building and threatening to injure the landlord.

“This was Oktoberfest, selfinduced intoxication,” said his defence lawyer, Jonathan Graham.

“He hasn’t drank since. He never wants to go to Oktoberfest again.”

At about 4 a.m. last Oct. 15, Larocque began tampering with a utility box on the lawn in front of a building on Hoffman Street in Kitchener.

A woman and her boyfriend, the building’s landlord, saw the box’s cover come off.

The landlord yelled down from his balcony several floors up to put the cover back on or he would call police.

“Mr. Larocque was upset at being yelled at and kicked open the locked front door (of the building), ran up several flights of stairs to the (landlord’s) unit and kicked that door open as well,” Crown prosecutor Vlatko Karadzic told court.

“Mr. Larocque was confronted by (the landlord) as he entered the unit and attempted to assault him.”

Larocque was no match for the landlord, who pushed him out of the unit, took him to the ground and held him until police arrived. Larocque, who did not know the landlord and did not live in the building, suffered a cut to his head and was treated in hospital.

“I think it’s important to mention that the gentleman got the better of my client,” Graham said.

Justice Michael Epstein noted that the landlord had a young child in the apartment. Larocque’s wife delivered a baby on Saturday.

“You now have a young child at home and I’m sure you can imagine what was going through (the landlord’s) mind when some drunk kicks down the door and tries to get in and makes threats to him,” the judge said.

Larocque has a prior record of assault causing bodily harm in 2006. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to making threats and breaking and entering into a residence and committing assault.

Karadzic sought six to nine months in jail.

Graham noted his client pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, took counselling, made the full $2,300 restitution and works full time.

Epstein agreed to Graham’s request for 90 days in jail on weekends.

He must do 30 hours of community service work, stay away from the victim and take any counselling recommended by his probation officer. Larocque also must give a DNA sample and faces a 10-year weapons ban. He will be on probation for one year.