A Fort St. John man has been sentenced to six years in jail for a July 2019 home invasion, where he and other assailants broke into a residential trailer in Charlie Lake searching for a safe and money.
Garrett Allen Cazes, 41, was handed the sentence on Jan. 8 in Fort St. John Provincial Court for unlawful confinement, aggravated assault, uttering threats, and breaking and entering of a dwelling house for robbery. He also received a 10-year mandatory firearms ban and was ordered to provide a DNA sample.
The trailer belonged to victim Shawn Harris, who was bound with rope, struck on the temple with the end of a splitting maul, and was threatened to be killed.
"I was unable to find that Mr. Cazes actually robbed Mr. Harris; that he actually confined Mr. Harris; that he actually assaulted Mr. Harris; or that he actually uttered threats to Mr. Harris. However, I found Mr. Cazes guilty as a party to these offences," wrote Justice Oliver Fleck in his ruling.
Cazes and the other assailants acted in a coordinated fashion, explained Fleck of the circumstances, with upwards of five people subduing Harris, bringing rope, duct tape, and an X-Acto knife to commit the offences. The incident took place in early morning hours, when it was still dark.
A struggle ensued between Harris and the assailants, as he was initially assaulted by two of them when they burst into his residence. Harris did manage to get past the first pair of assailants in an attempt to reach the front door, only to be met by three more, noted the ruling.
The group then forced Harris to the ground, bound him with rope and covered his head with a blanket. The physical assault escalated when the group could not find the safe and money they were looking for, with one of the assailants striking Harris on the left temple with the butt end of a splitting maul owned by Harris.
During their search and demands to know where the safe and money were, at least one assailant also uttered threats to kill Harris.
"This was clearly done in furtherance of the assailant's objective of robbing Mr. Harris of money and the contents of the safe they believed to be in the residence," wrote Fleck.
The blow to Harris was hard enough to break his orbital bone, requiring surgery. Harris provided a written impact statement to the court, describing PTSD, nightmares, short-term memory loss, self-esteem issues over physical scarring, and ongoing vision problems in one eye.
"The blow with the splitting maul caused him immediate blinding pain that then required orbital bone surgery to insert a steel plate into his face. As well, his ear was severely lacerated and needed to be sewn back together," wrote Fleck of Harris' statement.
Harris also reported that he no longer felt safe in the residence, and has since moved, in addition to reporting having lost his job because of the injuries, which he claims cost him about $10,000 a month in wages.
Fleck noted that Harris' impact statement went well beyond what was described by Harris when he gave witness evidence at trial.
"Since theft or attempted theft of any item during a home invasion would have formed an element of the offence of robbery and, as such, would have needed to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt by the Crown, I am not giving weight to any theft of items that Mr. Harris now claims, if evidence of that item's theft was not led at trial," wrote Fleck, but noted a cellphone was stolen from Harris during the assault.
Cazes also came before the court with seven previous convictions between January 2020 and February 2022. One was for breach of bail conditions, two for breaching probation, three for possession of stolen property under $5,000, and one for fleeing from police.
It's further noted that Cazes told court drug use was a major factor in his life, including during the time of the offences against Harris, with Cazes saying he developed a 'cocaine habit' around 2016 after a breakup with the mother of his oldest child.
"Although the breakdown of a relationship can be an extremely difficult circumstance for a person to deal with, it was still Mr. Cazes's choice to deal with the situation by turning to cocaine," wrote Fleck, and did not consider Caze's drug use a mitigating factor.
Cazes also told court that he has experienced difficulty supporting himself through legitimate means due to criminal proceedings against him, in addition to an assault in 2022, in which he claims was he was hit 37 times with a hammer all over his body, requiring surgery.
"The injuries Mr. Cazes suffered in 2022 are not a factor in my sentencing decision. The injuries happened well after the offences in 2019, so they played no role in Mr. Cazes's culpability for those offences," wrote Fleck.
Furthermore, Fleck said the assault had of the 'hallmarks of a classic home invasion robbery', with the assailants entering Harris' residence while he was sleeping, subduing him by force, confining him, and threatening him in an attempt to get the safe and money.
"Although this case did not involve a firearm, the manner in which Mr. Harris was assaulted approaches the seriousness of being shot with a firearm. Striking a hard blow to a person's temple with a heavy, blunt, metallic object like a splitting maul creates a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or even death," noted the ruling.
