ATHABASCA – A Colinton-area who was involved in a single-vehicle collision while driving a stolen vehicle was sent on his way with a time-served sentence and a warning to fix his behaviour.
In the Athabasca Court of Justice Nov. 25, Robert William Lysohirka pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property over $5,000, driving while prohibited, and an amended count of being in a motorized vehicle without the owner’s consent as part of a joint agreement between Crown prosecutor Matthew Kerr and Westlock-based defence counsellor Richard Forbes. Nine additional charges were withdrawn as part of the plea.
Court heard that on July 25, on Century Road south of Athabasca, a Ford F-350 was involved in a single vehicle collision. A man came upon the scene, and observed a suspicious male who was asking for a ride.
The man declined and instead called the RCMP, who arrived at the scene to find the suspicious man had left. However, blood found on the driver’s side airbag was later matched to Lysohirka through DNA sampling.
“He has an unenviable criminal record — if my math is correct, it’s got 12 property convictions,” said Kerr. “There was a possible triable issue in relation to one of the incidents, as well as a potential Charter issue. There were also some witness cooperation and identification challenges.”
Lysohirka was also arrested on Oct. 11 after the RCMP received a suspicious vehicle complaint. Lysohirka, who was on a driving prohibition, was in the driver’s seat alongside a passenger. The truck, which Lysohirka knew was stolen, also had a machete between the front seats.
Due to the potential issues, and Lyshohirka’s guilty plea, Kerr and Forbes put forward a 68-day, time-served sentence, which allowed the young father return to his life, albeit with a warning from the judge.
“You have a little child now, it’s time for you to take responsibility for yourself, for your life, and get onto a different path,” said Justice Gordon Putnam, who accepted the lawyer’s sentence proposal. “It’s imperative that you do that. Otherwise, you’ll only just keep coming back to deal with these matters.
“I wish you good luck with that.”
