Vernon senior loses appeal over Bobcat assault on homeless couple

A “vindictive” Vernon senior who used a Bobcat to destroy a homeless couple’s possessions has failed in his attempt to overturn his conviction.

William John Mcrae was sentenced to four months of house arrest for his assault on the homeless woman but argued in his appeal that the judge had misapprehended evidence and used speculative reasons to come to the guilty verdict.

McRae, argued the homeless woman, Tia Myiot, may have fallen over from heatstroke and not because he hit her with the Bobcat.

However, BC Supreme Court Justice Steven Wilson dismissed his argument saying there was “ample evidence” that McRae threatened the couple and then hit Myiot with the skid steer.

The incident dates back to August 2022, when homeless couple Tia Myiot and Antonio Savinainen were on their way to Kin Beach in Vernon with their bicycles and all their worldly possessions.

It was hot and they stopped and sat down under a tree a few feet from the multiple-use path they were travelling on.

McRae saw them on his front lawn and asked them to leave. They thought they were on public property.

He then turned his sprinklers on and called Vernon bylaw department, who in turn told him to call the police.

But instead of calling the police, McRae got in his Bobcat and drove over towards the couple, hitting Myiot in the shin, and pushing their belongings 100 feet down the path. He destroyed much of their belongings.

“Mr. Savinainen was upset, in part because his belongings were damaged. He used a handsaw to cut a few flowers in a small area of Mr. Mcrae’s flower bed near the path. In response, (McRae) drove back to their possessions and ran over them,” the decision read.

A passerby stopped and called the police. McRae then fled to a gas station across the road and hid in a storage cupboard.

He was later sentenced to four months of house arrest and four months under a curfew.

During last year’s sentencing, Judge Jeremy Guild said McRae’s actions were “vindictive” and done out of “bias, prejudice and assumptions.” The judge also noted that once the couple’s possessions were off McRae’s property he continued to drive over them.

In his appeal, McRae argued it was never an actual threat that he would hit them, and that scaring and intimidating the couple wasn’t enough to convict him.

However, the Justice didn’t agree and dismissed all of McRae arguments.

“I see no error in the judge’s analysis and this ground of appeal must fail,” Justice Wilson said.