A 30-year-old man who pointed a loaded handgun in a police officer's face while attempting to evade arrest in Burnaby should get a four-year prison sentence, according to the Crown prosecutor in the case.
Jonathan Joshua Huete was in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver for sentencing Monday after being found guilty in June 2024 of carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a loaded, restricted firearm without a licence.
The charges relate to an incident on Feb. 14, 2020.
'Gun! Gun! Gun!'
Police had been investigating a possible "stash site" in one of the apartments at the Sovereign highrise at 4508 Hazel St. in Metrotown, according to agreed facts presented in court.
For two days, officers had been tracking a Volkswagen Tiguan associated with the suspect apartment and saw the same man, Huete, driving it.
On Feb. 14, 2020, police had a search warrant for the condo and planned to arrest Huete in the underground parking garage and then search the apartment.
When Huete got out of the Tiguan and officers tried to arrest him, however, he fled up a stairwell.
As police ran after him, one officer yelled "Gun! Gun! Gun!" and Huete was seen holding a handgun.
During the chase, the weapon was pointed briefly at a pursuing officer's face, according to the facts.
Even after officers tackled him, Huete continued to struggle, and he and two officers sustained minor injuries.
After the arrest, police seized a restricted Charles Daly .45 calibre semi-automatic handgun with six rounds in the magazine.
Huete did not have a licence or registration.
In pre-sentencing reports, Huete also admitted to being involved in drug trafficking activity at the time.
'True crime'
Crown prosecutor Chelsea Gardner said Huete should be sentenced to four years in prison and a 10-year firearms ban.
She said his offences fell "firmly on the true crime spectrum of firearms offences" and were not comparable to the mistakes of a responsible gun owner with a proper licence.
"The gravity of his offence is very serious, especially when considering that he fled when police attempted to arrest him, was involved in a physical altercation with police and pointed his handgun in the face of a police officer," Gardner said.
Citing Statistics Canada data about gun violence, she said the four-year prison term was necessary to deter others from similar offences.
No criminal record
Defence lawyer A. Sidhu said Huete should be given a two-year conditional sentence (a jail sentence served in the community) and three years of probation.
He said his client did flee from police, but he noted the vehicle the arresting officers came out of was unmarked.
Huete said he did not intend to shoot or even point the firearm at the officers, according to Sidhu.
"He acknowledged he had a firearm on him," Sidhu said. "It was falling out because it was tucked into his sweatpants. He stated that he attempted to grab it and keep running and, doing so, he accidentally pointed the firearm at the police."
Sidhu said Huete has had no issues under his release conditions in the five years since the incident, and a prison term would interfere with the positive trajectory his life has been on, including kicking an addiction to cocaine and alcohol, and getting legitimate employment.
Sidhu also noted Huete's relatively young age and the fact he didn't have a criminal record.
Sentencing date set
Huete doesn't have a criminal record, but he has been charged with firearms offences before.
In March 2016, police seized a loaded restricted handgun from a rental car Huete was driving in Surrey, but by a judge who ruled police had violated his Charter rights by stopping the vehicle without reasonable grounds.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Liliane Bantourakis is scheduled to sentence Huete in the Burnaby matter on April 24.
Huete has not spent any time in custody since his 2020 arrest.
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