U-Haul moving trucks regularly travel thousands of kilometers across North America.
U-Haul moving trucks regularly travel thousands of kilometers across North America.
But the truck two men stole from a Sarnia compound on Christmas Eve only made it 950 meters before crashing into a parked pickup truck and getting stuck in a patch of grass. Several witnesses saw the Sarnia pair flee on foot at the conclusion of the short-lived – and bizarre – heist.
“I’m quite embarrassed for the crimes I’ve committed,” Brandon Lavoie said Monday from the Sarnia Jail.
The court heard Lavoie and Alexander Milam ordered coffee at the Confederation Street Tim Hortons around 7:30 am, and then went to the nearby moving and storage compound and stole the truck. Lavoie drove the 2001 model to a Turner Drive apartment complex, which is less than one kilometer away.
“He drove it through the parking lot and crashed into a parked white 2015 Dodge Ram pickup truck,” assistant Crown attorney Ryan Iaquinta said while reading an agreed statement of facts.
The damage totaled nearly $8,300.
Next, Lavoie drove over the sidewalk, “barely missing a parked vehicle,” Iaquinta said.
After getting stuck, multiple area residents saw the pair run away. Police found Milam at the same coffee shop where the brief spree started – still wearing the same clothes – while Lavoie was arrested on a different day.
Lavoie pleaded guilty Monday to stealing a vehicle and committing theft, failing to stop after a collision, and eight other unrelated charges. He was sentenced to five-plus months behind bars.
Milam pleaded guilty from the jail on Feb. 23 to the same two charges and five other unrelated charges. He was slapped with a 70-day sentence.
Milam declined a chance to address the court, but Lavoie apologized and said he’s working on his addiction issues.
“I’m too old to be messing around like that,” he said.
Defense lawyer Joseph Stoesser said his client has a deep-rooted addiction to narcotics and was homeless throughout his series of crimes, which started in 2019.
“The offenses began as relatively minor – thefts from Walmart and some breaches – and escalated a little bit to the point … with the truck theft and the crashing of the truck,” he said.
His client has been sober since his most recent arrest about two months ago, Stoesser said.
“He tells me this is the longest period of time that he’s been clean in years,” he said, adding he’s put on about 40 pounds.
Justice Anne McFadyen told Lavoie she appreciated his comments, but added this is just the beginning of a potentially lifelong journey.
“We certainly support you in that,” she said.
Both men will have probation orders in effect after they’re released, which bans them from contacting each other or going to the Confederation Street U-Haul compound.
Lavoie was also ordered to pay the nearly $8,300 in restitution to the pickup owner, almost $1,200 to Walmart for stolen goods, and about $800 to a woman. Additionally, he’s banned from driving for about one year.
Other charges were withdrawn.