Offender kept getting released, kept committing crimes
Kyle Robert Douglas Oram, 34, broke into Oromocto car wash, Rothesay storage units, among other offences
A New Brunswick man was arrested repeatedly for thefts, break-ins and driving offences last year, only for authorities to release him time and time again, allowing him to commit more crimes, a court heard Tuesday.
Kyle Robert Douglas Oram, 34, of Route 101 in Clarendon, about 40 kilometres northwest of Saint John, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday for sentencing for a long list of offences.
Many of the crimes were committed in Saint John and surrounding communities, but Oram had applied to transfer those files to Fredericton.
Crown prosecutor Rodney Jordan said RCMP officers were dispatched to the Squeaky Clean Car Wash in Oromocto in the early-morning hours of April 13 after an alarm was tripped at the business.
Mounties were advised a male was caught on camera breaking into the car wash, court heard, and that the burglary was ongoing at that time.
“[Officers] heard some faint noises coming from inside one of the car wash bays,” Jordan said.
The RCMP learned that a live camera feed showed a man, later identified as Oram, and a woman with a van inside the bay.
Police were able to gain access to the bay and arrested the pair, court heard, and they found keys to the business on Oram’s person.
They also found a generator stolen from the business in the van, as well as large bolt cutters and hand tools, the prosecutor said.
It was also discovered that Oram had used a pickaxe to break into the business’s vacuum system and had busted into a vending machine inside, Jordan said, and the damage at the business totalled about $9,700.
Oram was released on a promise to appear in court at a later date, court heard, but Oram came to the attention of police again April 25.
A Saint John police officer pulled over a 10-foot U-Haul truck April 25, Jordan said, and several men were inside, with Oram at the wheel.
“It came back that the vehicle was stolen,” the prosecutor said, and when Oram was searched incident to his arrest, the officer found 10 grams of crystal meth.
He was released again, court heard, but he was later identified as a suspect by Kennebecasis Regional Police Force officers as a suspect in a series of break-ins at storage units at Kennebecasis Self Storage in Rothesay.
There were break-ins at units at the facility between April 29 and May 1, and again between April 30 and May 7, Jordan said. One victim reported $20,000 worth of tools were stolen from his units, court heard, and another reported a loss of $5,700 worth of belongings, including a set of golf clubs and a filing cabinet.
Oram was one of the suspects arrested in the weeks following those storage break-ins, the prosecutor said, and he admitted to his role, noting he suffers from a $400-per-week crystal-meth addiction.
The defendant subsequently identified as the driver who pumped and dashed at Kwik Way Convenience in Saint John, court heard, making off with $229.01 worth of fuel.
Same officer busted Oram four times
Jordan said one police officer to whom Oram was well known stopped Oram in the Welsford area, near his Clarendon home, twice - on July 28 and 31 - because he knew he was a suspended driver. On the second occasion, court heard, Oram was hauling a trailer with no licence plate.
The same officer spotted Oram at the wheel of a small SUV the evening of Aug. 17, the prosecutor said, and he activated his emergency equipment to pull him over again.
But this time, Oram fled at a high rate of speed, even managing to lose the officer, Jordan said, but that officer was able to pick up the trail again.
The officer spotted some smoke off in the distance, court heard, and came upon the SUV upside down on a dirt road, with Oram and a passenger inside. This time, Jordan said, Oram was charged with flight from police as well as another count of driving while suspended.
Still Oram wasn’t held in custody, court heard, and he failed to attend court in Fredericton on Sept. 7, and again on Sept. 28.
Furthermore, the same officer who pursued him in August found Oram at the wheel of his vehicle Oct. 1, travelling at a high rate of speed, the prosecutor said, earning the defendant another count of driving while suspended.
Oram was eventually arrested on outstanding warrants and held in custody last fall. Court heard.
Crown, defence far apart on sentence
Jordan argued the number of offences and seriousness of the break-ins called for an overall period of 22 to 28 months behind bars, less credit for time spent on remand since last fall.
But defence lawyer Charlotte Cowley argued Oram had already served enough time on remand and asked the court to sentence him to time he’s already served.
“He takes full responsibility,” she said, noting before last year, her client hadn’t run afoul of the law in 13 years.
The driving force behind his recent offences, Cowley said, was the development of a serious addiction to crystal meth, something he’s already taken steps to address by seeking out drug counselling.
Oram has a job waiting for him once he’s released, she said, and his parents and fiancee were in court Tuesday to support him.
Jordan said the court should also imposed a period of probation and an order requiring Oram to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database.
Judge Cameron Gunn said for him to consider the lesser sentence sought by the defence, he would need to see some case law supporting it, especially when it applies to repeated break-ins at commercial premises.
He said the prosecution could submit precedents in support of its position as well.
Gunn adjourned the sentencing hearing to March 27 to give the lawyers time to research and submit their cases, and he remanded Oram again until that time.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
The officer who busted Mr. Oram 4 times must have wondered why he was continuously being released.