A man with what was described as a “horrendous” criminal record will spend the next six years in jail.
Dillan John Andre Cote, who Judge Gail Sinclair said spent the balance of his life in custody or probation, had a crime spree in late 2015 and early 2016 that began with shoplifting in Cranbrook and the theft of a car from the same area. He then travelled to Rock Creek where he stole another vehicle and finally was arrested after a 10-hour standoff with RCMP in Oliver.
Cote, who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant at the time for a parole violation, refused to leave the Osoyoos residence until the early hours in the morning when RCMP used a distraction method and a gas shell to force Cote and a female he was with out of the home.
Sinclair said in his judgement that part of Cote’s lengthy record had to do with his horrible upbringing and his addiction to drugs.
Cote pleaded guilty to one count of theft under $5,000, two counts of theft of a motor vehicle and one count of robbery on Monday at the Penticton provincial courthouse. He was sentenced to four years, but still has two years for to serve on a previous sentence. The jail time given to Cote from the matters dealt with on Monday will begin in 2019.
Source: ODN with files from Black Press Digital
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Previously on ODN – December 2016
Charges have yet to be laid in connection to a 10 hour standoff in Oliver that ended with an emergency response team gassing a couple out of the house they were holed up in.
On December 14 2016 at 5:30 p.m. RCMP confirmed the location of 23 year old Dillan John Andre Cote, wanted on a Canada wide warrant since November 7th for failing to return to his designated residence. RCMP initially suspected he was hiding in Prince George, but he was found in a home at or near Primrose Lane and Road 3 south of Oliver.
Police allege Cote and his female accomplice, 21-year-old Michelle Britany Mercier, refused to leave the home until 4 a.m. when the police used “a distraction method and gas shell” to force them out of the home.
Both appeared in court on charges of theft under $5000 and breach of undertaking for an incident that occurred in Cranbrook on December 13. Court proceedings indicated there were previous conditions prohibiting the pair from accompanying each other.
Cote has a long list of convictions for crimes dating back to 2012.