What Kail Stokes did – throw rocks at a candy store and break a window after the owners chased him out – was a very concerning set of circumstances, a Sarnia judge has said.
What Kail Stokes did – throw rocks at a candy store and broke a window after the owners chased him out – was a very concerning set of circumstances, a Sarnia judge has said.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Article content
Recommended Videos
Article content
“He gets into this absolutely ridiculous argument with these people, who are minding their own business in the community trying to make the best of things,” Justice Mark Poland said as he recently sentenced Stokes to about four months in jail.
The court heard the incident took place on Aug. 23 at Sweet Life Candy and Pop Shop on Christina Street North. Sarnia police said at the time they were called around 6 pm about a suspect who went to the store despite being banned.
Officers were told Stokes swore, stole products and ran outside after being asked to leave again. The store owners chased after him to get their stolen property, but he violently resisted and tried to strike them while escaping, police said.
He ran to the other side of the street.
Advertisement 3
Article content
“There he picked up rocks from local landscaping and began throwing them at the store owners, shattering their front business door,” police said. “He also made multiple threats to harm them and their business.”
The court heard the threats included: “I’m going to kill you. I’ll burn this whole place down.”
Stokes, 41, from Sarnia initially was charged with robbery, two counts of assault with a weapon, mischief, and breaching bail, police said. He recently pleaded guilty to mischief by destroying or damaging property, two counts of assault while carrying a weapon, and one count of uttering a death threat. For that he was jailed 110 days.
He also received additional jail time for unrelated incidents including theft from Canadian Tire and for hitting a man with a stick outside a local shelter.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Defense lawyer Robert McFadden told the judge his client’s underlying problem is fentanyl, but he was looking 100 per cent better after staying off drugs while in jail.
“His booking picture was terrible. I think he’s 15 or 20 pounds heavier right now at least,” he said. “He looks like somebody in his 30s today rather than a photograph of somebody in their 50s.”
Assistant Crown attorney Aniko Coughlan said the business owners didn’t give the Crown any victim-impact statements or restitution documents, but she noted small businesses are on the front lines of the city’s addictions crisis.
“Mr. Stokes completely lost control of his behavior on that day,” she said.
Poland called it a violent assault.
“His behavior was serious,” he said.
Stokes had a prior criminal record. He got a suspended sentence and probation in 2022 for uttering a death threat in relation to a drug debt. He also was sentenced to 15 days’ jail in 2013 for stealing a stereo he planned to sell for drugs.
The rest of the charges he was facing linked to the incident in August were dropped.
Article content